LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 





^ 



\ 



XjIF^ of ! ■ 



KNOWLES SHAW 



THE 



SINGING EVANGELIST. 



BY^ 



'VT'XIjIil.A.iyC BJLSZTDBSr 










/'^y CENTRAL BOOK CONCERN,"""'" 

Cn^INNATI, OHIO. OSKALOOSA, IOWA. 

1879. 







Copyright secured by Central Book Concern, 1879. 



J 



CO 

:^ 

^ PKEFACE. 



This book is not the outgrowth of the author's mind, 
but the record of a life which was, in many respects, a 
very remarkable one. The material for the book con- 
sisted of the manuscripts of the deceased, reports of his 
work as found in various journals, both secular and re- 
ligious, and the personal recollections of those who knew 
and loved him. The writer's work has been mainly that 
of collecting and arranging the material from the sources 
above mentioned. To one and all who have aided in 
the work I tender my hearty thanks, and feel that it will 
be a pleasure for them to know that they have helped to 
place in a permanent form an account of the life and 
labors of one so worthy of being remembered. 

That the hearts of the readers may be stirred, as mine 
has been while writing this brief story of an earnest, 
unselfish, and useful life, is the wish of the 

Author. 



(iii) 



/ 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGES 

Birth and Parentage — Removal to Indiana— State of Society — A Disas- 
ter — Death of his Father— His Legacy — A Famous Fiddler — ^Jack 
of all Trades— Sowing Wild Oats, 7-18 

CHAPTER II. 

Sudden Change — Scene in a Bali-Room — Mental Conflict — Battle with 
the Devil — His Baptism— Thirst for Knowledge — Marriage — De- 
cides to be a Preacher, 19-28 

CHAPTER III. 
Student and Teacher — Preacher and Temperance Lecturer — Success 
in the Ministry— Method of Working— Analysis of His Character — 
Sketch of T. W. Caskey, . 29-38 

CHAPTER IV. 
Remarkable Meetings — Lebanon, Ohio — Wellsburg, West Virginia, and 

Other Places — Labors in 1875-6, 39-55 

CHAPTER V. 

His Love for the Lost — Blue Dick — Labors in the Murphy Movement — 

Singing "Lambs of the Upper Fold" at a Child's Funeral, . . 56-66 

CHAPTER VI. 
Meeting at St. Louis— Great Interests— Reports of the Press— Results, . 67-83 

CHAPTER VII. 
Anecdotes — A Change of Heart Wanted Scoffer Silenced — Danger of 
Immersion — Slanderer Reproved — Universalists' Answered — Con- 
vention Quieted— Humorous Answers, 84-93 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Sketches of Several Sermons— **It is I ; be not Afraid"— Pearl of Great 
Price— Deccitfulness of Sin— Smooth Things— Good Works— Tri- 
umphs of the Gospel, 94~io4 

(v) 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 

PAGES 

Domestic Life— Death of His Daughter— Her Dying Words— His Dream 
—Musical Talent— Musical Publications— Estimate of His Musical 
Powers— "Bringing in the Sheaves," 105-112 

CHAPTER X. 

Moody and Shaw Compared and Contrasted — Extracts from the Sermons 

of Both — Moody's Ticket and Shaw's, 113-125 

CHAPTER XI. 

Need of Mental Photograph — A Specimen Sermon— How Readest 

Thou ?— What Lack I Yet ? . . . . . . . . . 126-135 

CHAPTER XII. 
Not a Eulogy, but a Life — Pen Portrait by David Walk — Meeting as 

Memphis — Notices by the Memphis Press, 136-150 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The Editor of the Christian Preacher on Shaw's Method and Manner — 
Elder Caskey's Review of Wilmeth, and Opinion of Shaw — The 
Editor's Rejoinder. 151-159 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Extent and Variety of His Labors — Extracts from Diary for 1877— Last 

Day at Home, 160-172 

CHAPTER XV. 
Brother Shaw's Last Meeting — His Last Day — An Account of the 

Wreck, 173-185 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Funeral Services at Dallas — Closing Services, and Burial at Rushville, 

Indiana, > • • ^6-196 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Difference Between Our Judgments Concerning the Living and the 

Dead— Memorial Service at Columbus, Mississippi, . . ,- . 197-215 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
A Sad Scene— Strange Coincidence— Lines by G. W. Archer — Tribute 
of Affection — Memorial Services at Jackson, Mississippi — In Memo- 
riam, 216-228 

CHAPTER X.IX. 
Poem— What the "Christian" and "Standard" Said— Challen's Last 

Song — Farewell, . . . . 229-237 



LIFE OF KNOWLES SHAW. 



CHAPTER I. 



Birth and Parentage — Removal to Indiana — State of Society — 
A Disaster — Death of his Father — His Legacy — A Famous 
Fiddler— Jack of all Trades — Sowing Wild' Oats, 

Knowles Shaw was born in Butler County, Ohio, 
on the 13th of October, 1834. His father, Albin 
Shaw, and mother, whose maiden name was Huldah 
Griffin, were of Scotch descent. A few weeks after 
the birth of Knowles, their first child, they removed 
to Rush County, Indiana. That portion of the State 
was at that time a new settlement ; indeed the whole 
State was then regarded as being **out West/* The 
population was a poor but hardy class of people, 
but, as the sequel has proved, possessing the ele- 
ments necessary for growth and prosperity. The 
extent of this growth since the time of which we 
write is indeed marvelous; from a forest it has 
become a fruitful field; from a new country, desti- 
tute of nearly all the comforts and blessings of civil- 
ized life, it has become, within the memory of those 
yet living, dotted over with large towns and cities, 



8 LIFE OF 

alive with busy trade and the hum of manufactories, 
while its railways, like the arms of a giant, gather 
the products of all the lands between the oceans. 
Its advancement in mental and moral culture has 
kept pace with its material prosperity; the change 
from the almost unbroken forest to the cultivated 
farm has not been greater than that from the scanty, 
as well as rude facilities for instruction to those of 
every grade now so abundant, from the everywhere 
present common school to the university, rich in all 
the appliances of scientific and classic learning. 

The parents of the subject of our story belonged 
to the humble hard-working class, which form the 
chief element of all new settlements, and his early 
days were spent amid the hardships and privations 
inseparable from a pioneer life. What he was in 
after life was not on account of any favorable sur- 
roundings in his earlier years, for the early settlers 
in this then new country had too hard a struggle in 
subduing the forest and gaining a scanty subsistence 
to pay much attention to either moral or intellectual 
culture. The means and helps to such improve- 
ments, as in all new localities, were either wanting 
or of the rudest description, nor were the school- 
masters and preachers of the time wholly unsuited 
to the somewhat unsightly buildings in which the 
elements of learning and religion were taught. Dur- 
ing the summer and fall, religious meetings were 
often held under the shade of the beeches, or in a 
grove of tall shapely sugar-trees, the hearers finding 



KNOWLES SHAW. 9 

natural seats on fallen trees, or on the green sward — 
usually, however, the rude log building; with its 
puncheon floor, clapboard roof, openings for win- 
dows, admitting at the same time light and air, and 
benches with unsteady legs and without backs ; 
which during the portions of the year that could not 
be profitably employed in out-door labor was used 
as a school-house, served as a church as often as 
some John the Baptist of a brighter dispensation not 
far distant was found to call the people to repent- 
ance or point them to a land, which to all seemed a 
better land because it was a land of rest. 

In bad weather the leaky roof and open crannies, 
which permitted the cold blast to enter too freely, 
was a great cause of discomfort, and as stoves had 
not come into general use their place was sometimes 
supplied by huge iron sugar-kettles, in which char- 
coal fires were kept burning, making it more than 
warm enough for those who sat near them, while 
those more remote were often pinched with cold. 
Both heat and cold, however, were endured without 
complaint, for preaching was uncommon enough to 
be a luxury, no matter how cold or hot the house 
might be ; and there are those yet who go back in 
fond memory to those days, and think that heaven 
seemed nearer then, with only a roof that could not 
keep out the rain, than now, with frescoed ceilings, 
cushioned seats, light softened by stained glass, spire 
pointing heavenward, and the bell calling all to the 
house of prayer. 



10 LIFE OF 

It was in this very region that Edward Eggleston 
laid the scene and found much of his material for 
the **Hoosier Schoolmaster/' and **The End of the 
World'' — novels and romances we call them — but 
many of the scenes are drawn from real life in South- 
eastern Indiana, less than forty years ago. The writer 
of these pages spent several days at a Millerite camp- 
meeting in that region in the summer of 1843, when 
the ** End of the World, " the second coming of Christ, 
was looked for daily, nay hourly, and heard from the 
lips of those who were waiting and wishing for the 
coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven, 
the wonderful dreams they had, and the strange por- 
tents written on the face of the midnight sky, which 
assured them beyond all doubt that the day of the 
Lord was at hand. The stirring exhortations and 
the sweet songs, which woke the forest echoes ever 
and anon during the night-watches, and which wel- 
comed each dawn which might be the dawn of the 
last day of time, are still fresh in my memory, and 
the glad hopes of those who had given up all earthly 
interests in full assurance that the time was at 
hand, and the fears of those not fully convinced 
and wholly unprepared for such an event, made an 
impression on my mind of which none but those 
who mingled in those scenes can form the slightest 
conception. 

It was not far from this locality that young Shaw, 
then a boy of some nine or ten years of age, was 
then living. His lot in life, as already intimated, 



KNOWLES SHAW. II 

was a lowly one : toil and privation came as soon as 
he was able to endure the one and feel the other. 
Nothing in his horizon seemed hopeful, nothing to 
indicate that he would be known beyond the very 
narrow circle in which he moved. A heart here and 
there among companions as humble as himself he 
might bind to his own in friendship or love, but 
beyond this nothing but a toiler and plodder, who 
would soon leave as little trace of himself in the 
great world around as the traveler whose footprints 
on the sea-shore are effaced by the first returning 
tide. In the meantime two other children, a boy 
and girl, had been added to the family, making 
greater the demands upon the labors of the father, 
which were freely given — for children are even more 
welcome in the cottage of the poor than the abode 
of wealth and luxury — in the former case being the 
greatest and almost only joy. 

Albin Shaw loved his children, and made every 
effort in an honorable way to secure for them such 
advantages as would fit them for usefulness in after 
life, or to leave them and their mother a competency 
in the event of his being early called away. To this 
end he labored with his hands, as farmer and tanner, 
traded in cattle at one time, and finally engaged in 
selling goods in a small village in Rush County. He 
would sometimes collect the three children around 
him and prognosticate their future by examining 
their heads. That of his oldest son was a puzzle to 
him : his conclusion was that he would make a ter- 



12 LIFE OF 

» 

rible bad man or a very good one ; that whatever he 
did he would do with all his might. 

Knowles, though but a child, was always busy, 
and one of his early inventions came near proving 
a serious disaster. Like most boys he was fond of 
fire-arms; he made a wooden gun and loaded it, 
but all his efforis to make it go off were in vain. 
As a last resort he dropped a coal of fire into the 
muzzle, which produced the desired effect sooner 
than he expected, and his face was severely burned. 
Smarting with pain he got a coarse towel and rubbed 
off the blistered skin, to escape, as he afterward 
explained, being powder-marked. It is needless to 
say that this was an end to experiments in that 
direction. 

But a sad and unlooked for calamity was at hand. 
The father, the bread-winner of the family, was taken 
sick, soon became worse, and one day feeling that 
the end was near, had Knowles called to his bed- 
side to give him his parting words. They were few 
and brief — little more than, "My son, be good to 
your mother, "and, ^'Prepare to meet your God." 
His last gift was a violin, which had often been a 
solace to him in his life of toil, and soon after the 
weary toiler closed his eyes on what had been a 
world of toil and care to open them on earth no 
more. 

This event to the family was a great calamity, 
making their hard lot harder still, and brought upon 
young Shaw, then about twelve years of age, cares 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 3 

and responsibilities unknown before. Boy as h^ 
was, he strove to make his mother's burden Hghter, 
and labored to the full extent of his ability to aid 
her in raising her dependent family. He grew to be 
a stout, hearty youth, able when but a boy in years 
to do a man's work ; and this he did not only with- 
out complaint, but cheerfully, showing that the 
dying father's words, **Be good to your mother,'* 
had not been forgotten. Nor did he forget his 
father's legacy, the old violin. From infancy music 
had been a passion ; and now all his spare moments, 
when the toils of the day were over, were devoted 
to his father's gift, and he soon was able to play 
upon it with the ease and skill known only to a born 
musician. A talent like this could not be kept 
secret. The neighbors would often drop in to see 
the widow Shaw, but never left until Knowles had 
been called on for a tune — one only paved the way 
for another, and the evening would wear into night 
before the listeners were aware how the hours had 
sped by. It soon came to pass that he was invited 
to play at other places than at home ; and in a short 
time no social gathering or merry-making of any 
kind was complete unless enlivened by the merry 
strains of his violin. 

But under all this there lurked a great danger; 
and when the circumstances are known there is little 
cause for wonder that he fell into the snare. One of 
the greatest evils of the times of which we write was 
intemperance. At all gatherings in a new settle- 



14 LIFE OF 

ment, no matter what the object might be, whisky 
seemed a necessity. A poHtical gathering without 
this stimulant to patriotism was unknown ; the can- 
didate for office who was not wilHng to treat those 
whose votes he sought was very likely to obtain but 
few on election day, while he who furnished a good 
supply of the ardent did not lack a goodly number 
of ardent supporters. The harvest could not be 
gathered without liquor; a house or barn-raising, or 
corn-husking, generally ended in a drunken revel. 
At weddings and all merry-makings liquor was used 
without stint, and it was not even banished from 
funerals, for it seemed to possess the power of excit- 
ing mirth and assuaging the bitterness of grief. 
Large religious meetings were not entirely free from 
its presence, and if a preacher indulged in a little, 
he was thought none the less devout on that account. 
Whisky was indispensable at the meeting of friends, 
and a little was also deemed necessary at parting, 
and to refuse the proffered glass was a species of 
rudeness almost unheard of. 

Brought up amid such surroundings it is not to 
be wondered at that young Shaw, who was of a 
social, lively and excitable temperament, should 
soon acquire a taste for strong drink. He was the 
life of every social gathering, a favorite especially 
with the young, his musical skill the admiration of 
the whole settlement, and it is not to be wondered 
at that he was often the soul of the revel and the 
gayest of the gay. Hundreds of young people in 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 5 

those days danced to his music; every year wit- 
nessed an increase of his skill, and with it was an 
increased demand for his presence and services. 
He sang a good song, had quite a vein of mimicry, 
and, though rude and unpolished, he seemed less so 
from his constant mingling in society than many of 
his rude companions, and, it must be added, came 
near being drawn into the vortex of dissipation 
beyond the power of successful resistance. In addi- 
tion to what we have said above, there was another 
feature in the course he was pursuing that had a 
great tendency to keep and confirm him in it. His 
musical talent had become a source of profit. At 
every gathering where his services were in demand 
a sum of money, sometimes quite a handsome one, 
was the reward of his skill. This money he never 
wasted. He remembered well the injunction of his 
dying father: "Be good to your mother;" and into 
her hands went nearly all his gains. Even up to this 
period, when he was rapidly changing from boyhood 
to manhood, he seems to have thought of no higher 
career than that into which he had insensibly drifted. 
No one dreamed of him being very much different 
from what he was, and he had no higher ambition 
than that of being a good fellow and the best fiddler 
in the settlement. 

Though content with this he had abilities in other 
directions ; none, however, so marked, or in such 
demand as his talent for music. In other respects 
many of his companions were his equals, but in 



1 6 LIFE OF 

music he bore away the palm. His father, as we have 
seen, was merchant, stock-dealer, tanner, farmer, and 
also possessed of some musical taste and skill. In 
this ability to turn his hand to almost anything his 
son not only resembled, but greatly excelled him. 
He learned to make shoes in a single week, made 
grain-cradles for the neighbors, was a carpenter, plas- 
terer, and on one occasion greatly astonished a watch- 
maker from whom he obtained permission to use his 
tools, by taking his watch to pieces, cleaning it, and 
putting it together again in good order, as if clean- 
ing a watch were an every-day affair with him. He 
knew so many things from the habit of close obser- 
vation that he had cultivated, that one of the neigh- 
bors quaintly expressed the general sentiment in 
regard to him by saying that * * Knowles Shawns head 
was like a tar-bucket, for everything that touched it 
stuck to it.'' 

After he grew older he spent a short time as a 
clerk in a store, taught school several terms, and 
having at one time fallen in with a teacher who pro- 
fessed to be able to give instructions in Greek and 
Latin, he became a pupil, and in one month learned 
all his teacher knew. Whether this was due to the 
aptness of the pupil, or to the meager attainments 
of the teacher, tradition does not inform us. But 
we are anticipating the order of events, and must 
resume the thread of our narrative. 

He was now nearly eighteen years of age, a man 
in size, tall, angular, somewhat awkward, but kind- 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1/ 

hearted, good-tempered, and industrious, which ren- 
dered him a general favorite. 

As far as book-learning was concerned, he was 
extremely deficient. The few facilities for improve- 
ment that might have been used he was obliged to 
neglect, in order to meet the demands made upon 
him by the family, which regarded him as their chief 
dependence. To labpr for them seemed a pleasure, 
as well as a duty, and the self-denial he had to prac- 
tice in order to provide for them was cheerfully 
endured. 

It will not surprise the reader, in view of what has 
been said in regard to the company he kept and the 
habits he had learned, that he did not seem to be 
religiously inclined. His position to Christianity, 
however, was rather that of neglect and indifference 
than of dislike and opposition. The gay and thought- 
less were his companions. Like himself, many of 
them were ** sowing their wild oats, " without stop- 
ping to ask the question, What shall the harvest 
be? And nothing doubtless, at this period, would 
have seemed more improbable to him and all who 
knew him than that he should become a Christian, 
and also a preacher of that faith to others. 

Previous to this time the movement called the 

Reformation, but more generally known as ''Camp- 

bellism," had made considerable progress in Rush 

County, being advocated with great zeal and ability 

by several preachers whose names have long been 

household words, not only in that locality but all 
2 



1 8 LIFE OF 

over the State and throughout the West — such as B. 
Franklin, H. R. Pritchard, B. K. Smith, and George 
Campbell. Several churches had been organized, 
and, among others, one known as the Flat Rock 
congregation, in the neighborhood where young 
Shaw was living. 

The views of the new religious party of course 
had given rise to much discussion, and the contro- 
versial discourses of the ministers of other bodies, 
who disputed its claims, and those of that body, in 
turn in defense, gave more than usual interest to the 
preaching of that period, especially when a man of 
more than ordinary ability from either party w^as to 
hold forth. On such occasions large crowds were 
wont to assemble, and among them the young fiddler, 
not from any special interest, perhaps, in the subject 
under discussion, but because everybody was there. 



KNOWLES SHAW. I9 



CHAPTER 11. 



Sudden Change — Scene in a Bali-Room — Mental Conflict — 
Battle with the Devil — His Baptis?n — Thirst for Knowl- 
edge — Marriage — Decides to be a Preacher, 

But a nature like his was not to run wild and to 
waste ; a nobler career than that of ministering to 
the pleasures of the thoughtless and mirth-loving 
was soon to open before him ; instead of being the 
leader in every scene of gayety and folly, he was 
soon to enter upon a life of lofty purpose and toil, 
and to turn the feet of thousands into the way of 
righteousness and peace. 

This great change in the current of his thoughts 
and life was sudden, and had a strange beginning. 
One night he was playing the violin for a large com- 
pany of dancers, and in that most unlikely of all 
places for serious thought, there came into his mind 
the dying advice of his father, in the impressive 
words of the prophet: ** Prepare to meet thy God.'' 
They came unbidden ; they forced themselves upon 
him with a power that he could not resist; they 
seemed to him not only a voice from the grave but 



20 LIFE OF 

a message from heaven. Still the dance went on ; 
but the gayer the crowd became, the sadder grew 
the heart of the player, whose mirthful strains were 
at such variance with the solemn thoughts with which 
his mind was occupied. 

A young lady observing the sadness of his look, 
and the abstraction of his manner, approached him 
and said: *'Knowly, what is the matter?" He told 
without reserve the state of his mind ; and it was 
with strange feelings that she resumed her place 
through the set, to music which she knew mocked 
the feelings of the sad-hearted player. The dance 
ceased ; another set was formed, and all were waiting 
for the music to begin. To the astonishment of all, 
Shaw, in response to the call to ''strike up,*' said he 
could not play any more. A dozen voices called on 
him to begin, when he gravely walked out into the 
middle of the floor and told all that had been pass- 
ing through his mind; told of his father's dying 
words, neglected till then, and expressed his deter- 
mination never to play for another dance. He ex- 
pressed regret for his past course of life; that it 
was not such as it should have been ; that it might 
do if this life were all; but in view of the life to 
come, he must pursue another course. He then 
asked the company, about forty in all, to promise 
that they would throw no hindrance in the way of 
his attempt to lead a new life. His sadness, man- 
liness, and earnestness reached their hearts. They 
gave the promise he asked ; and to their honor be it 



KNOWLES SHAW. 21 

said, they not only kept it, but some of them even 
gave him help and encouragement to keep the 
resolve which under such strange surroundings he 
had made. This proved to be no passing fancy; it 
was the turning point in his life; and to the life 
which he had been leading he never from that hour 
longingly looked back. 

It must be remembered that this was the act of a 
somewhat rough and uneducated country boy, but 
only the nobler and more remarkable on that account. 
It displayed a moral courage, heroic as well as rare, 
and showed the awakening of a great soul to the 
solemn duties and responsibiHties of life. 

In a mood far different from his usual one on leav- 
ing such scenes of festivity, he reached his home 
"that night, and found his mother sitting up for him. 
But his manner was greatly changed ; instead of a 
lively description of the great dancing party, and 
imitations^of the various characters there, which his 
talent for mimicry often led him to indulge in, he 
was silent and thoughtful. He asked for a bowl of 
bread and milk, and when he had eaten asked for a 
blanket, and wrapped in this he passed the night on 
the floor. For several days he ate nothing but a 
little bread and milk, and spent the nights on the 
floor, wrapped in his blanket. During this time he 
seldom closed his eyes, and was evidently passing 
through a severe mental conflict. To his mother's 
frequent entreaties to tell her his trouble, he made 
reply that he was having a battle with the devil. 



22 LIFE OF 

All the difficulties of the course he had entered upon 
came vividly before him ; the possibility of the family 
suffering for lack of the help his violin had enabled 
him to afford them ; the difficulty of providing for 
them by manual labor; the power of appetite to 
which he had yielded ; the associations which he had 
formed which must be broken, made those sleepless 
nights seem long and terrible. Any thought of yield- 
ing he regarded as the whispering of the devil; he 
struggled on and was victorious. 

He now began to attend the services at the Flat 
Rock Church with a feeling and purpose far different 
from that which had taken him there before ; the 
clear scriptural views presented were like light from 
heaven to one who had long walked in darkness; 
and after a sermon from Gabriel McDuffie, and an 
exhortation by Elder George Campbell, he publicly 
confessed his faith in Jesus Christ, and was immersed 
by George Thomas, the elder of the church, on the 
13th of September, 1852. 

What a treasure now would be a full report of the 
doings of that bright autumn day ; the discourse of 
* 'Uncle Gabriel," as the preacher was affectionately 
called ; the exhortation of George Campbell, a Boan- 
erges in zeal, and rising, as many still remember, 
when calling sinners to repentance, to the highest 
degree of tender and pathetic entreaty; the company 
gathered on the banks of the stream ; the words of 
prayer at the administration of the solemn rite ; the 
sweet song at the close, and the serene joy of the 



KNOWLES SHAW. 23 

young convert, in the assurance that he was Christ's, 
and that Christ was his. All this must be left to the 
imagination. But one thing is certain : that there 
would have been even a deeper feeling and an intenser 
joy could the godly men who took part in the doings 
of that day have foreseen the multitudes the young 
convert should bring to the Master's feet. As it was, 
to young Shaw it was a day never to be forgotten. 
From that hour, life had to him a new meaning ; it 
was no longer to be a mere struggle for the bread 
that perishes, but an endeavor for a better life 
beyond the present — a race in which an immortal 
crown might be won. 

Many predicted that he would soon be as careless 
and jolly as ever; and when they observed the atten- 
tion paid him by Uncle Gabriel McDuffie, under 
whose ministry he had been converted, and who 
strove to help and encourage him all in his power, 
they said, with a sneering smile: **The old man is 
wasting his time on Shaw; he'll soon be back in the 
ball-room, fiddling as lively as ever." This came to 
Shaw's ears, and he said that he hoped to prove 
himself worthy of the old brother's attention and 
care ; he conducted himself toward him as a son in 
the gospel, and it cheered the old man's heart to 
find that the seed he had sown was not in vain. 

He now felt more painfully than ever his lack of 
education, and at once set about to remedy that 
defect. In consequence of being compelled to labor 
constantly to supply the needs of those who were 



24 LIFE OF 

dependent upon him, his progress was slow; still he 
contrived to gather and retain much useful knowl- 
edge. He had an excellent memory, a quick and 
lively fancy, some readiness of expression ; and these 
all combined had the effect of making him seem 
better informed than many who had enjoyed far 
superior advantages, but who could not use as freely 
as he the stores which they possessed. It must not 
be inferred from the above that he had attained to 
any great degree of scholarship. Such was not the 
case. In even elementary training he was extremely 
deficient; but he^made the best possible use of what 
he heard and read, and thus laid up a magazine of 
facts which he was able to turn to a good account in 
after years. 

His thirst for knowledge increased with every 
acquisition ; and while he had not the least idea at 
that time of entering public life, he was uncon- 
sciously preparing himself for such a work as that to 
which he afterward was providentially called. He 
was a faithful and consistent member of the church 
all this time, growing stronger every day, and highly 
esteemed by his fellow-members. 

Over two years of such a life as we have described 
passed away, and we find him working as a farm 
hand for one of the neighbors, Mr. George R. Finley, 
for whose daughter Martha he in process of time 
conceived a high regard. This feeling was mutual, 
and ripened into something more than esteem ; and 
it was soon the old story, that has been repeated 



KNOWLES SHAW. 2$ 

over and over again. They became more than all 
besides to each other, and they were married on the 
nth of January, 1855. He was at this time only a 
few months over twenty years of age, poor in this 
world's goods, but hopeful and buoyant in spirit. 
With a stout heart and strong hands, he saw no 
reason why life should not be a success. 

Nearly four years of his married life passed, one 
of which was spent in Missouri, with little to mark 
it beyond what is common to an industrious, hard- 
working man. Each day brought its toil, and at the 
same time the simple home-born joys, which are the 
dearest heritage of the poor. During these years 
the young couple were blessed with two children, 
Georgie Anna, born on the 3d of June, 1856, and 
Mary Elizabeth, born on the 31st of October, 1858. 
All this time Knowles was faithful in the discharge 
of his religious duties ; would now and then take 
some humble part in the sacred services, but gave 
no special promise of future usefulness beyond that 
of a humble, godly life. On one occasion, at a grove 
meeting, he was called on to say something. He rose 
and said: "Brethren and sisters, I have not very 
much to say; but I am thankful to the Lord for the 
mercy he has shown me. When I first joined the 
church I thought that was all I had to do ; but one 
day Squire Layton said to me: *Shaw, if you were 
out of corn, and some kind, good man, would say, 
*' Come to my crib and get all the corn you want, and 
I will charge you nothing for it," would you take the 



26 LIFE OF 

corn and go away without thanking him?' I repHed, 
^No, sir/ *Then, ' added he, ^when the Lord gives 
you the hope of everlasting hfe, will you not thank 
him?' I said, 'Yes.' And I do thank him from the 
depths of my heart." 

As already intimated, he had made some efforts 
at self-improvement, and not wholly in vain ; but his 
knowledge was fragmentary, and as yet he was 
almost entirely without that training of the mind 
which alone deserves the name of education. 

On the third Lord's Day of October, 1858, from 
some cause or other, he was called on to talk to the 
people who had gathered for worship. He made 
the attempt with some diffidence and confusion at 
first; but gradually gaining his self-possession, he 
made a brief address, marked by such good sense, 
and delivered with such unaffected earnestness, that 
his hearers were satisfied that they had before 
them one possessed of the elements of a successful 
preacher. As a trial sermon before an assemblage 
of ministers, it would doubtless have been regarded 
as greatly lacking in most of the elements of a pop- 
ular address; but his hearers judged by their hearts, 
by what they felt, and the decision rendered .by 
nearly all was, that Knowles Shaw would make a 
preacher. No one was more surprised at the effect 
of the discourse than the speaker himself. In his 
deep regard and warm admiration for the men upon 
whose ministry he had attended with such profit and 
pleasure, he had not thought it possible that he 



KNOWLES SHAW. 2/ 

could ever become such an instrument of good to 
his fellows as they. The ice, however, was fairly 
broken ; many were convinced that he possessed the 
elements of great usefulness. Frequent opportuni- 
ties were afforded for the exercise of his newly-found 
talent, and each exercise of it served to confirm the 
first impression he had made. 

He was now twenty-four years of age, with less 
confidence in his natural abilities for public life and 
usefulness, than most of those who were advising 
him to that course, and with a far deeper conscious- 
ness of his defective, nay, almost utter lack of edu- 
cation. This was one of the great turning points in 
his life, and what was duty, was pondered over Avith 
an intensity not inferior to that which marked the 
period described in the preceding portion of the 
chapter, when, during the watches of many a sleep- 
less night, he struggled against Satan and gained 
a victory. 

That one in such a lowly condition in life, and so 
little enlightened in point of learning, should feel so 
deeply may appear strange ; but it must not be for- 
gotten that he was both poet and musician, and 
though his powers as such had not been developed 
to any great extent at this time, he had even then 
the musician's sensitive nature and the poet's heart. 
There was slumbering in his breast at that time a 
power to move men which no man among the hun- 
dreds of thousands among his brethren ever pos- 
sessed to the same degree — a power possessed by 



28 LIFE OF 

few in this generation — and it was this that made 
a mental struggle greater with him than with other 
men. Prayer, and deep, earnest reflection, marked 
these days. The advice of trusted friends, especially 
that of Uncle Gabriel, was carefully weighed ; and 
the result was a decision to devote his days to the 
great work of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. 



KNOWLES SHAW. 2g 



CHAPTER III. 



Studcfit and Teacher — Preacher and Temperance Lecturer — 
Success in the Ministry — Method of Workiiig — Afialysis of 
his Character — Sketch by T. W, Caskey, 

His true vocation was found at last, and to it he 
felt all his powers must be made tributary; and his 
future life showed an entire consecration to his work. 
His education at this time was little more than 
begun, and for some time he was teacher and pupil — 
teaching what he knew in the district school, and at 
the same time learning as he could, what was most 
important for him to know in regard to the life-work 
on which he had entered. 

One of his pupils at that time, but now a lawyer 
in Rush County, says, *'the district in which Shaw 
taught had rather a bad name, the boys generally 
managing the school instead of the teacher. The 
first day of the term we were all on hand, wondering 
how he would suit, and from what we had heard of 
him rather inclined to think that our rule would con- 
tinue. Our teacher was a very tall man, three or 
four inches over six feet, rather slender, with large 



30 LIFE OF 

hands and feet — able, from all appearance, to enforce 
whatever rules he might prescribe. He had an agree- 
able voice, and quite a pleasant expression of coun- 
tenance; and the first impression was a favorable 
one. He called the school to order, and gave us his 
rules; indeed, he had but one, which he announced 
somewhat as follows : * Boys, I expect you to do as 
I do ; what I do and say you are at liberty to do 
and say; if I lie, you can lie; if I swear, you can 
swear ; if I fight, you can fight ; but if you do any 
of these things and I don't, you will get a whip- 
ping.' No one was whipped that term. There was 
crying done at the close of the term by nearly all of 
us, but it was because we had to part with our 
teacher, whom we had soon come to regard as our 
best friend. When there was any work to be done 
about the school-house or yard he was always first 
to begin, and then say, 'Come on' to the boys, who 
never refused to follow his example. We all got to 
like him, and when he preached we were sure to be 
present. We also got him to make temperance 
addresses, and we all did our part to make such 
meetings a success. I remember well when he was 
to make his first temperance speech, that an old 
toper who was there was talking very hard about 
Shaw before he came, on account of his views on 
temperance; but when he came the old man went in 
to hear him, and before the lecture was over he was 
crying like a child, and said he had never seen the 
subject in that light before." 



KNOWLES SHAW. 3 I 

AH this time he was preaching, whenever and 
wherever, he found an opportunity. His improve- 
ment was very marked. He began to receive invi- 
tations to preach at various places in the county, 
and when scarcely a year had passed after he entered 
fully upon his work, he was regarded as a useful 
man, and one who gave great promise of increased 
usefulness in the future. His musical talent, too, 
now began to attract far more attention than when 
his skill on the violin was the admiration of all the 
pleasure-loving people for miles around; even more 
than by his preaching, were multitudes moved and 
melted by his songs; and soon he was widely known 
as the ''Singing Evangelist." 

He was now fairly launched upon his wonderful 
career, which brought so much toil to him, and so 
much blessedness to those for whom his labor was 
given. Conversions began to attend his labors, and 
this only stimulated him to greater effort. God, he 
felt, was thus owning his work in the salvation of his 
fellow-men. 

The first record we can find of his success is in 
the Millennial Harbinger for 1861, only about two 
years after he began to preach. It is as follows: 
*' Brother Knowles Shaw, a young evangelist, writing 
from Rushville, Indiana, says : ' At all my meetings 
this year some sixty persons have enlisted under the 
banner of Christ.' " Under date of August 28th, of 
the same year, we hear from him again in these 
terms: "At our meeting in Hamilton County there 



32 LIFE OF 

were three additions by confession and immersion. 
Brother Van Winkle was with us during the meet- 
ing. At a meeting at New Hope, of ten days' con- 
tinuance, there were fifty-one additions — forty-three 
by confession and baptism. Brother H. R. Pritchard 
was with us a part of the time. We also held a meet- 
ing in Madison County, where there were seventeen 
additions. And during our last visit to the brethren 
at Little Flat Rock there were four additions. We 
have determined to preach the gospel, the whole 
gospel, and nothing but the gospel, to the best of 
our ability.'' 

His life had always been one of great activity. It 
was not less so now, but in an entire different direc- 
tion. He knew nothing of the usual routine of a 
preacher's life, either in his preparation for his work 
or the actual performance of it. Of theology he 
knew nothing, only as he had heard it from the pul- 
pits of the various religious parties, and he had no 
narrow creed of his own to cramp and fetter his 
powers. Instead of living in a library, with books 
only for his companions, and bringing before the 
people once or twice a week the results of his read- 
ing and study, he came before them with a message 
drawn from the one Book, and suited to the wants of 
men in all the various conditions in which they are 
found. He was the farthest possible remove from 
the conventional preacher in almost every particu- 
lar — in dress, manners, habits, and intercourse with 
men; and the reader will fail utterly in his concep- 



KNOWLES SHAW. 33 

tion of him if he thinks of him as an average modern 
preacher, differing in only a few unimportant partic- 
ulars from all the rest of his class. He lived among 
the people whom he taught and strove to save, as 
one of them ; his visits were not of a solemn and 
formal character ; he sought them in the shop, the 
forest, the field ; a street conversation was often the 
occasion of impressing serious reflections on the 
minds of those he met. Instead of delaying the 
work of those he called upon, he would take hold 
and help while he talked, and thus release them 
from anything like constraint ; learn all their wants, 
doubts, troubles, and also enter into their joys, and 
leave them better far for the call and with minds 
made up, even without an invitation, to hear him 
preach the next Sunday without fail. He had a song 
for the children of the families that he dropped in to 
see, and cheered the parents, while apparently seek- 
ing to please the children. If the clock was out of 
order, a few touches from his hand would often set 
it right ; if the sewing-machine would not work it 
was soon in smooth running order, and the good 
wife thought no less of the preacher who was so 
handy, and not at all stuck up, but just like other 
folks. 

Few men could get better acquainted in a strange 
place sooner than he. During one of his meetings 
he would be going nearly all the time, from morning 
till night, going into nearly every place of business, 
and getting acquainted with everybody. If a death 
3 



34 LIFE OF 

took place he needed no invitation to attend the 
funeral, and sometimes gave consolation, which was 
all the sweeter to the sorrowing from the fact that it 
was the offering of a stranger. Once when in a 
strange city he wandered out to the graveyard. 
While there a young child was brought for burial ; 
the parents were not members of any church ; he 
joined the sad company, talked a little at the grave, 
sang one of his tender songs, and made such an 
impression on the mourning ones that they came to 
hear him preach that same evening. 

In this way he made himself acquainted with 
human hfe in all its phases, and by mingling freely 
with society during the week, he knew how to meet 
their various wants when he met them on Sunday at 
the house of God. His chief studies were the Bible 
and human nature, and the great secret of his power 
over men consisted in first learning their precise 
needs, and then meeting those needs with what the 
word of God furnished. This made his sermons 
often lack in unity; but if varied they were not 
more so than the circumstances of his hearers, and 
when the greatest number of those was reached his 
end was accomplished. He was fertile in illustration ; 
his knowledge of men and things gave him a rich 
store of striking similes and figures. He drew largely, 
also, from his own experience, and, though neither 
learned nor profound, he seldom failed in one way or 
other to reach every one of his hearers. But, above 
all, he was deeply in earnest; all who came in con- 



KNOWLES SHAW. 35 

tact with him realized that. He needed not the 
inspiration of a crowd to call forth his powers ; if he 
had but few, or, as on a few occasions, but one or 
two, he seemed to realize the value of the soul, and 
talked earnestly and tenderly, as did the Master to 
a few disciples, or to the woman at the well. He 
did not seem to have the wish, even if he had the 
power, to make fine speeches ; he spoke more for 
effect, to tell the sick of a cure, to point out the 
way to the lost. 

One or two carefully-prepared sermons per week 
did not come up to his ideal ; the souls of men were 
always in danger; to save them he felt that he must 
be always at work. A discourse for every day in 
the week even was not deemed enough ; three per 
day were not uncommon, and sometimes four. Be- 
sides this, he labored much from house to house, 
doing good as he had opportunity — when oppor- 
tunity seemed lacking he made one. His powers 
were so varied that during the progress of a meeting 
he reached the case of all the classes who came to 
hear him. One of our most eminent preachers in 
the South, Elder Caskey, a fine judge of human 
nature, and who met Shaw when in the height of 
his usefulness and made him his study, observed 
this peculiarity to which we have called attention, 
and to it attributed much of his success. 

He says: *'He had his peculiar style of saying 
things and doing things ; he conformed to no stand- 
ard, either of oratory or action; as a logician he 



36 LIFE OF 

was not profound ; as a word-painter I have heard 
him excelled ; as for pathos, I have heard others who 
were his superiors in that respect. I am under the 
impression that his power was owing to a combi- 
nation of these three elements, that, singly or com- 
bined, make up the greatness of all eminent speakers. 
This combination he possessed in a greater degree 
than any speaker I have ever heard. The reason, 
perhaps, why he excelled in neither was the absence, 
to some extent, of v/hat phrenological science calls 
continuity of thought. When he played the logician, 
which he could do, it w^as sharp, cogent, incisive, 
but always short, never exhaustive. He seemed not 
to have the power to drive his mental machinery 
along the track for any considerable length of time, 
or chose not to do it; his transitions from logic to 
rhetoric, from reasoning to description, from the 
serious to the humorous, from tragedy to comedy, 
were sudden and frequent ; consequently there was 
often a mingling of smiles and tears among the 
impressible of those who heard him. Versatility 
was a leading element of his nature. As a musician 
he had few equals ; his power of imitation was won- 
derful ; he could imitate the joyous, strong-faithed 
Christian, by gestures, looks and words, until you 
could almost see the sparkle of his eye, the flush on 
his face, the happy smile on his lips, and hear his 
glad shout ringing in your ear; then suddenly he 
would put on a long face, the woe-begone look, the 
drooping form, and heave the burdened sigh of some 



KNOWLES SHAW. 37 

poor, doubting, halting, and fearing, John Biinyan- 
made-Christian, on his way to the Castle of Giant 
Despair." 

This versatihty, so well sketched above, was char- 
acteristic of him in the beginning of Jus evangelical 
labors, as well as at the period when the above pic- 
ture was drawn — not under as perfect control, per- 
haps, at first, as in after years, but, nevertheless, the 
great and marked peculiarity of the man. With this 
key to his character we can understand fully why it 
was that success and usefulness were attained so 
early. What others reached, in even a small -degree, 
after years of study and patient toil, he reached in 
a high degree without their advantages, in a much 
briefer period. In i860 his work was only fairly 
begun, but in the ten years following he held more 
successful meetings than any man in our ranks. 
Within four or five years from the beginning of his 
public labors he attracted much attention, and met 
with great success ; and at that early day, when only 
about thirty years of age, held meetings not inferior 
in interest and results to those with which we have 
become so familiar in the later years of his life. He 
was a growing, a successful preacher from the begin- 
ning; he never slackened his efforts, but worked 
while it was called to-day. 

Among his earlier meetings, one held at Tipton, 
Indiana, is especially worthy of note. This was in 
May and June, 1864. It was held in the Court- 
house, and was attended by great throngs of people. 



38 LIFE OF 

The excitement is compared, by one who was present, 
to that of a heated political campaign — the people 
coming from far and near, and resulting in one hun- 
dred and thirty-two additions to the church. Among 
them was a youth only thirteen years of age — at this 
writing twenty-eight years of age, who has been 
preaching the gospel for years, and has persuaded 
hundreds to turn from the evil of their ways. In 
connection with Brother Pritchard, he had even greater 
success in a meeting at Jonesville, Indiana, in 1865. 
This brings us to the most active period of his life, 
his work fully entered upon, his purposes formed to 
spend, and be spent, in the work to which he was 
providentially called. The future chapters will con- 
tain the progress of that work, which was one of 
battles which were victories. 



KNOWLES SHAW. 39 



CHAPTER IV. 



Remarkable Meetings — Lebanon, Ohio — Wellsburg, West Vir- 
ginia, and Other Places — Labors in 1875-6. 

The record of his meetings, and the matters of 
interest connected with them, would fill a volume, 
and, while it would be impossible to give all, yet it 
would be a serious defect to omit a notice of some 
of his most successful ones. We give a list of twenty 
of them, and the number added at each. 

Additions. 

Lebanon, Ohio, .., 252 

Buchanan, Michigan, 226 

St. Louis, Missouri, 150 

Harrison, Ohio, 144 

Jonesville, Indiana, 138 

Jeffersonville, Indiana, 118 

Wellsburg, West Virginia, 120 

Dallas, Texas, 112 

Charlestown, Indiana, 112 

Covington, Kentucky, 105 

Centerville, Iowa, 103 

Quincy, Illinois, 87 

Canton, Missouri, 78 

Sterling, Illinois, 79 

Clarksville, Tennessee, 67 

Hamilton, Ohio, 122 



40 LIFE OF 

. Additions. 

Waynesville, Ohio, , ,... 6i 

Rushville, Indiana, 56 

Little Flat Rock, Indiana, 56 

Warsaw, Indiana, 50 

2,236 
It must be remembered, however, that these are 
but a few out of a multitude. Only a few months 
before his death he stated that he had not been out 
of a protracted meeting for two weeks in succession 
for thirteen years. With regard to the first place on 
the foregoing list, he wrote, one year after the organ- 
ization of the church, as follows : 

**THE CHURCH IN LEBANON. - 

*^ Lebanon, Ohio, February ^^ 1869. 

^^ Brother Er reft : — This day, one year ago, the Church 
of Christ was organized here -with fourteen members. 

*^The meeting had commenced January 8, 1868, in 
Washington Hall. I knew of but two brethren and their 
wives here before coming to hold the meeting ; found a 
few others after my arrival. Some of the members in the 
organization were new converts. Many were the proph- 
ecies of failure as this little band stood up and gave each 
other the hand of fellowship and Christian love, pledging 
to each other their unfaltering friendship and love in 
Christ, to stand by each other in persecution, trial, or pros- 
perity, as it might best please our kind heavenly Father. 

^^The tear-dimmed eyes of that little company spoke 
eloquently to the crowd assembled, mainly from curiosity, 
of their sincerity and devotion to the cause of truth. 

*'The question, ^Does the. church still live?' is one 
often asked. I will briefly answer. 

^^Yes, thank God, it lives; and not only lives, but pros- 
pers. 'Tis pleasant to look back over the year past and 
see the steps by which this advance has been made. 



KNOWLES SHAW. 4 1 

''We have gained every inch of ground by the severest 
contests. We can adopt the language of the old hymn : 
'We have fought our way through.' We hope to be able 
to adopt the rest after awhile. The aggregate number of 
members enlisted during the year is nearly two hundred 
and ninety. Of these twelve have been withdrawn from, 
two or three of whom have returned ; some have removed 
to other parts, taking letters ; some have passed through the 
gate of death, leaving behind the sweet assurance of the 
all-sufficiency of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to 
cheer them in the valley of death's shadow ; leaving us 
yet over two hundred and fifty struggling for the victory. 
The Lord's Day school, organized soon after the church 
was set up, has also prospered, averaging three hundred 
or more in attendance. 

"There has never been a Lord's Day, since the com- 
mencement of the church here, but the Disciples have 
come together to break bread — not a week has passed 
without at least two prayer-meetings from house to house. 

"We occupy the Hall yet, but hope to get a meeting- 
house of our own during this year. The Hall we use nUI 
accommodate six hundred persons comfortably, and is 
filled every Lord's Day. We are contributing everyLord's 
Day as we are prospered, and feel confident of success. 
The church is poor in purse, but rich in spirit, and doing 
nobly. May the Lord bless this noble band, and make us 
all a blessing. To God be all the praise for all these 
things he has done for us. Knowles Shaw." 

During his meeting at Wellsburg, West Virginia, 
which began in December, 1869, he was called home 
by the sad tidings of the serious illness of his eldest 
daughter, then about thirteen years of age. Of this 
meeting W. K. Pendleton, then editor of the Jlli/- 
lennial Harbinger, wrote as follows : 

"We have just had the pleasure of spending part of 



42 LIFE OF 

a day with our earnest and devoted brother, Knowles 
Shaw, of Rushville, Indiana. He is holding a protracted 
meeting for our neighbors at Wellsburg. It has been two 
weeks in progress, and up to the present time over one 
hundred have been added to the church, most of them 
by baptism. He began the meeting in December, but 
was summoned home by the ilhiess of a beloved daugh- 
ter, a noble and lovely Christian girl, whom it pleased the 
Father soon to take home to himself. We have never been 
more strongly impressed with the power of the Christian's 
faith to lighten these heavy crosses than when hearing 
Brother Shaw speak of his bereavement. There is infin- 
itely more than resignation ; the door of the heavenly 
mansion seems opened to his view, and the radiance from 
within spans even the dark river. 

^^ Returning to Wellsburg, he has been preaching every 
evening to crowded houses, and with continually increas- 
ing interest on the part of his hearers. A' prominent 
feature in the character of Brother Shaw is ear?iestness, and 
God is blessing it as he ever delights to do. He is a 
man of his own sort, and works in a way all his own. His 
heart is full of the love of souls, faith in the gospel, and 
a sense of dependence upon the divine blessing for suc- 
cess; and in this spirit he works, day and night from 
house to house, on the streets, in the offices of business, 
and in all places where men do congregate. His success 
is a fine illustration of the power of love to win the preju- 
diced and to unite the divided. All classes and denom- 
inations throng to hear Brother Shaw. They feel that he 
loves them and the truth, and will sacrifice anything law- 
ful to save them. We hope to have still further triumphs 
of the truth to record before this meeting is closed.'' 

In the same year he held a meeting in Louisville, 
Kentucky, during which sixty were added ; and 
immediately after that another in New Albany, Indi- 
ana, with twenty-six additions. In 187 1 he was at 
Bellaire, Ohio, and twenty-nine were added as the 



KNOWLES SHAW. 43 

result of his labors. And in the same year at East 
Cleveland, it is thus reported : 

^'Our meeting of three weeks continuance has just 
closed, with thirty accessions, all by baptism. The cir- 
cumstances were most unfavorable for a hearing. The 
streets were blockaded by public improvements, the spring 
forward, and everybody busy. Notwithstanding, the hear- 
ing was large and attentive, the audience and the interest 
increasing till the close. Brother Knowles Shaw did the 
preaching, and, by the power of his clearness and earnest- 
ness, proved fully adequate for the occasion and the cir- 
cumstances. Not merely has he reaped from seed sown 
by our present pastor, the earnest J. B. Johnson, and 
other faithful laborers before him, but he has sown seed 
in other hearts, to bring forth fruit, we trust, to eternal 
life. Well and faithfully he labored, and God has given 
a blessed increase. R. R. Sloan." 

Soon after this he removed to Neosho County, Kan- 
sas, and did much for the advancement of the cause 
of Christ all through that region, holding meetings, 
gathering together the scattered Disciples, and giving 
an impulse to the cause that was not soon forgotten. 
While residing in Kansas he made frequent visits 
to different States ; in every instance holding meet- 
ings with marked success. Among other places he 
preached at Galesburg, Illinois, and also in Peoria, 
using the Eureka tent for his meetings. 

Another meeting in Missouri is thus noticed : 

^'Clinton, Missouri, y?/;^^ 6, 1872. 
'^On Lord's Day, May 12th, we commenced a pro- 
tracted meeting in Clinton. Brother Knowles Shaw, famed 
for his great success in such meetings, was with us. He 
attended Sunday-school in the morning, and sang several 



44 LIFE OF 

of the fine pieces in his new book, ^Sparkling Jewels.' 
Then, just before preaching, he sang another piece or two, 
and, after service, appointed a meeting for 3j^ P. M. for 
rehearsal. Nearly all the young people of the town came, 
and they had a grand time, such as Clinton had never 
seen. At night he had singing for half an hour ; then he 
read and commented for perhaps fifteen minutes on a 
passage of Scripture, and, after prayer, preached over an 
hour. The attendance was large and the attention pro- 
found. Such was his course throughout the meeting, day 
and night — half an hour's rehearsal, then reading and 
comment about a quarter of an hour, then the prayer and 
the discourse. Our audiences continued to increase until 
our 'house was filled to overflowing. Never had the like 
been seen in Clinton, and the people wondered that a man 
could talk and sing, and preach and work almost inces- 
santly, day after day, and keep fresh and ready, and never 
seem tired. Our meeting lasted just three weeks, and 
closed with fifty-one additions to the congregation. This, 
considering all the circumstances, is the grandest success 
I have ever known. 

*^The work done by Brother Shaw is of incalculable 
value. He managed by his good singing and good preach- 
ing to get 'the people to come. When they came once the 
most of them could not be kept away. We got what we 
have never had before in Clinton— a good hearing — and 
the people could see and appreciate the difference between 
what we really preach and what the clergy say we preach. 
Many who had been sprinkled in infancy, and others who 
had been persuaded to receive it for Christian baptism, 
had their sandy foundation taken away, and can never rest 
secure until they are buried with their Lord in baptism. 

^*J. A. Meng.'' 

The next year we find him employed, as follows, 
in Iowa : 

*^De Soto, January 13. 
'^Brother Knowles Shaw has just closed a series of inter- 



KNOWLES SHAW. 45 

esting meetings in this place. He delivered fifty-eight dis- 
courses, preaching generally twice each day. Fifty-five 
accessions were made to this congregation during this 
series of meetings. We have had a very interesting and 
happy meeting. The most earnest prayers and best wishes 
of this entire congregation go with our dear brother in 
Christ, who starts for his home in Kansas to-day. This 
congregation was organized a little more than two years 
ago. Since that time it has been strengthened by the 
addition of about one hundred and eighty members. 

*^Wm. M. Roe/' 

The following are a few of many meetings in 
1874: 

*a<:ANSAS. 

^^Knowles Shaw writes from Atchison, under date of 
May 15th: 'I have been here four days, and a glorious 
meeting is already developed. Ten added. Hall crowded, 
and more expected.' '' 

** ILLINOIS.' 

*'Knowles Shaw's meeting at Golconda continued just 
two weeks, and resulted in thirty-two additions— four 
restored, eight from the denominations, and the remainder 
by confession and baptism." 

** KENTUCKY. 

''Nine persons have recently been added to the con- 
gregation at Paducah. Knowles Shaw stopped at this 
point on his way from Golconda, Illinois, and remained 
five days, preaching to very large congregations." • 

<TNDIANA. 

''At last accounts Knowles Shaw was engaged in a pro- 
tracted meeting at Bethlehem Chapel, a mission point, we 
believe, in Indianapolis. He was preaching to crowded 
houses, and twenty-eight had been added up to August 
28th." 



46 LIFE OF 

L. D. Waldo, Rockford, writes, October 28 : 

^'Knowles Shaw came to Rockford September 25, and 
preached and sung, and prayed and worked, as he only, 
of all the men I ever saw, can work, for four weeks. 
Thirty-two additions were made to the church; new zeal 
awakened in the old members; much prejudice removed 
from the minds of our religious neighbors, and seed sown 
that we hope will bring forth fruit to the glory of God. 
We thank God and take courage." 

*' Knowles Shaw closed a meeting at Evansville, Decem- 
ber 14, with fifteen additions to the church." 

In 1875 he returned to Indiana, making his home 
at Rushville ; but, as ever, his labors were spread 
over a wide field, as we shall learn from what we 
give below. The Paducah Daily Times gives the 
following : 

''The meeting that commenced at the Christian Church 
in this city, in the latter part of last week, is still progress- 
ing. The handsome church edifice of the Christian breth- 
ren, on Oak Street, is nightly crowded with attentive 
congregations. A deep interest seems apparent on the 
part of both men and women, who mingle their voices in 
songs of praise and thanksgiving for the blessings which 
the God of love has bestowed upon the children of men. 
The hundreds that flock to the Christian Churcli, every 
morning and evening, lo listen to the wonderful singing 
and preaching of the great revivalist. Elder Shaw, are 
unaware of the time passed in public worship, and return 
to their homes filled with the idea that if Elder Shaw is 
not a very great man he is certainly a very earnest and 
good man ; that if he is not an accomplished scholar and 
an orator, according to certain fixed rules of the university 
and the forum, he is eloquent and endiusiastic after his 
own style; a natural orator, full of sentiment, and prompted 
in his labors for the good of mankind by what he believes 
to be 'the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 



KNOWLES SHAW. 4/ 

truth.' Honest in his opinions, Hberal in his feehngs, of 
ardent temperament, and of manners entirely difterent 
from any and every body else in the world, Elder Shaw 
impresses himself upon his audience with peculiar strength 
and force. Filled v/ith the spirit of his sublime calling, 
with heart overflowing with love and kindness for his 
fellow-man, it is no wonder that his presence in our midst 
is deemed a source of so much delight to our fellow- 
citizens of every denomination. 

^jC *^ ^^ •jC 5yC 

** There was an immense audience at the Christian 
Church, on Oak Street, last night, to listen to the splendid 
singing and eloquent preaching of the * Singing Evangel- 
ist,' Knowles Shaw. Every available seat was occupied; 
the altar, and even the pulpit, crowded with a delighted 
assemblage of our citizens, both young and old. Mr. 
Shaw has produced a decided sensation in this community. 
Never, in the history of the Christian Church of this city, 
has the interest been surpassed to listen to the music of 
the hymns of Sankey and BHss, and other productions of 
the sacred muses. Mr. Shaw is an orator entirely like* 
himself, and unlike any one else that we have ever heard 
of. He is sui generis in every undeniable respect ; he is 
emphatically Knowles Shaw, and no one else. Some 
portions of his sermon, last evening, would have done 
honor to the head and heart of the great Spurgeon or 
Bascom, or to Bishop EUiott. Crowds nightly flock to 
the Christian Church to listen to our distinguished visitor, 
whose powers of song and speech seem inexhaustible. 
Many who go to scofl", remain to pray. We predict that 
great good must follow the efforts of Mr. Shaw to advance 
the cause of his Master among men. 

^ -^ -^ -^ -^ 

*'By 7 o'clock last night the church was packed, and 
great numbers were compelled to go away, not being able 
to get in. We have never seen a deeper solemnity nor 
better behavior in a house so crowded. The first thirty 
minutes was spent in singing, and in some of the songs it 
seemed as if every one in the house was singing. A great 



48 LIFE OF 

number asked Mr. Shaw to sing ^Drifting Away/ which 
he did, after making a few heart-touching remarks about 
interference. Mr. Shaw then sang, by request, ' The hah" 
has never been told.' The sermon, last night, was short, 
but we heard many say that it was the best sermon Mr. 
Shaw has preached. Numbers stood up without moving 
during the entire sermon. From the number of verses read 
and quoted from the Bible, it could be truly said that the 
word was preached. At the close of "die sermon Mr. Shaw 
made one of his strongest appeals to the unconverted. The 
congregation then sang, 'Free from the law.' Seven or 
eight persons went forward to unite with the church, and 
a number of others were deeply interested. Baptism will 
be attended to to-night at the close of the meeting. 

''We are told that the morning meetings are largely 
attended. Mr. Shaw's morning talks are short and pointed, 
and addressed especially to Christians. There are no use- 
less speculations in Mr. Shaw's preaching, no new theory ; 
it is the 'Old, old story,' told by one who believes it and 
loves to tell it." 

He reports from other points as follows : 

"I closed a good meeting in Ohio, Bureau County, 
Illinois, after two Lord's Days' continuance, with sixty- 
eight additions — sixty of these by confession and baptism. 
This was a grand triumph for truth. Brother A. Ross 
preaches for them, and will help the new members along. 
Commenced here in Sterling our tent-meeting Friday last, 
and though at first but about one hundred and fifty came 
out, we now have the tent filled. Lord's Day and last 
night there were two thousand or more. Pray for us. 
Will remain here three weeks or more." 

"I have just returned from a short visit to the church 
in Manilla, Rush County, where I spent eight days, preach- 
ing twice each day. The immediate result was nineteen 
baptisms, and a general stirring up of the community. 
This church used to meet at Mud Creek, and there I 
obeyed the gospel twenty-two years ago. It is a joy to meet 
old friends, but sad that so many are gone." 



KNOWLES SHAW. 49 

F. M. Kirkham, Centreville, Iowa, writes: 

'*The church in this place has just closed a meeting of 
twenty-five days' continuance, rich in results — there having 
been added one hundred and three. 

' ' Everything was ripe for a glorious meeting. The 
church having occupied, only a few w^eeks before the 
meeting commenced, for the first time, their beautiful and 
commodious new chapel, for the erection of which the 
brethren and friends had contributed freely and nobly of 
their means, thereby enlisting their sympathies in spiritual 
things, were thus to some extent ready to hear all things 
commanded by God. 

'^Brother Knowles Shaw did the preaching, delivering, 
in all, fifty-one discourses, doctrinal and practical, in his 
peculiarly clear, earnest and eloquent manner, and awaken- 
ing a religious interest in this community such as we 
have never had before. His day discourses were directed 
mainly to the brethren, and have done much to build 
them up in the faith, hope and love of the gospel, and to 
strengthen and confirm the previous labors of the pastor 
of the church. 

^^This has been a meeting of peculiar interest and 
power, not only in its results here, but throughout this 
region — many brethren from different parts of the country, 
and even adjoining counties, lending their presence, and 
contributing otherwise to its success, and carrying home 
with them its leavening influences." 

Other reports: 

'INDIANA. 

*' Knowles Shaw remained at Greencastle three weeks, 
during which time thirty-four persons were added to the 
church. The meeting was continued by Brother Laugh- 
lin, but we have not yet learned the result. From Green- 
castle Brother Shaw went to Terre Haute." 

' ' Knowles Shaw recently held a few days' meeting at 
Clarksburg, during which eight persons were baptized and 
the church much encouraged." 

4 



50 XIFE OF 

The aggregate of additions was four hundred and 
sixteen ; the number of which was greatly increased 
during the year by his labors at other points. Al- 
though without a full report of his work and its 
results, we have fuller reports of the year 1876 than 
of any preceding it. A partial report is given below, 
much of it in the words of the laborer himself: 

** Chicago, Illinois, January 17. 

*^I have just returned from Buchanan, Michigan, where 
I spent three weeks by special permission of the congre- 
gation here, for which I am laboring. There were two hun- 
dred and twenty-six added in all - two hundred and twelve 
by confession and baptism. On New Year's Day there 
were thirty-six, and on the first Lord's Day in the new year 
twenty-five additions. This, for the time engaged, is the 
crowning work of my life. The house used was the Advent 
Church, because larger and more central. Indeed, the 
work was a union effort, by the Advents and our church. 
A permanent union of the churches is anticipated. A 
committee of eight from each church have already agreed 
on the basis of union, and our congregation adopted it 
immediately, but there were thirteen of the Advent Church 
opposed, and they adjourned to hold another meeting to 
further consider the matter. The basis is our old plea: 
Christ the foundation; faith, repentance, confession and 
baptism the way to get on the foundation, and Christian 
character the test of fellowship, allowing all to enjoy their 
opinions. The name agreed upon for the church is, 
* Church of Christ.' The cause in Buchanan is now in 
a most prosperous condition. 

**I commenced a work here, yesterday, to continue for 
some days, as circumstances may require. We are pro- 
gressing here in every way slowly; some accessions nearly 
every meeting by letter, and several baptisms since I came. 
The work on West Side is doing well. I preach there 
every Sunday at 3 P. M. Their Sunday-school attendance 



KNOWLES SHAW^ 51 

is good — one hundred and sixty-three yesterday. Our 
Sunday school numbered one hundred and fifty-six. 

**Knowles Shaw.'' 

A month later he writes from Chicago : 

^*Our work goes on gloriously here - fifty additions to 
date, and more are expected. House filled, and five 
added last night. Pray for us. The gospel triumphs over 
all error. We will continue another week." 

Soon after we find the following : 

**I recently spent a little over three weeks in Rush 
County, Indiana, my old home, where I preached, while 
resting, thirty-two discourses, and had forty-four addi- 
tions — thirty of these at Ben Davis Creek and fourteen at 
Little Flat Rock. First meeting, ten days; the other, four 
days. So I rested during my vacation from city work. 

**Knowles Shaw." 

'^Chicago, Illinois, September 2^^ 1876. 
'*I closed a two-weeks' meeting on the 22d, at New 
Bedford, McDonough County, Illinois, with twenty-five 
additions, besides raising money to pay off all liabilities 
incurred in the erection of their new and beautiful house 
of worship just finished. Knowles Shaw." 

In October he began a meeting in Covington, 
Kentucky. One of the city papers mentioned it as 
below : 

'*The meetings conducted by Elder Knowles Shaw, at 
Fifth Street Christian Church, in this city, have passed 
through four weeks, with ninety-six additions. The audi- 
ence last night was larger than on any previous occasion ; 
all the seats were closely packed. The aisles, and all the 
vacant spaces around the pulpit and in the gallery, were 
filled with hearers, and the hall-way outside the main 
audience- room was crowded with people who could hear, 
but could not see the preacher. 



52 LIFE OF 

*'This great audience paid the most profound attention, 
and the speaker well repaid them in one of his most brill- 
iant and heart-searching discourses. The labors seem to 
give him new powers. He exhibits no signs of weariness 
or weakness, but preaches and sings as though he were 
just entering upon a new meeting.'' 

The pastor of the church writes as follows : 

^* Covington, November lo, 
'* Brother Shaw took leave of us on Wednesday even- 
ing last, carrying with him the good wishes of all. There 
were additions at the last meeting, and I believe there 
were many more ^almost persuaded.' He removed some 
prejudice, sowed a large quantity of very good seed, and, 
in addition, reaped a harvest of over one hundred souls ; 
thus making our church record larger than it ever has 
been. The audiences were targe throughout, sometimes 
immense, and the best of order prevailed. Brother Shaw 
sings well, and the work moved on. He is a good pro- 
tracted meeting preacher, not easily discouraged, and 
physical strength equal to any emergency. He preached 
and sung for us nearly five weeks, and his voice — always 
loud and strong — was as clear at the close as at the begin- 
ning. He is willing to do all the work if necessary, and, 
like Alexander the Great, grieves that there are not mope 
worlds to conquer. He is all zeal and activity, and e^^ts 
unsparingly his great energies to get people into the 
church. He refers, with apparent pride, to the multitudes 
that have joined under his preaching. He is never still, 
in the meeting-house or out of it ; talks constantly about 
the meeting and the work he is doing; often alludes in 
his sermons to things which have transpired in his own 
experience, and sometimes with magical effect. He speaks 
with great boldness and plainness; he uses a broad-ax 
rather than a smoothing-plane ; his sword is two-edged, 
and cuts down everything before it. Popular Vices receive 
no countenance at his hands. Sectarianism and error in 
every form receive his unqualified denunciation. He 
preaches the old Jerusalem, Pentecostal gospel faithfully, 



KNOWLES SHAW. S3 

and tells sinners with great emphasis what they must do 
to be saved. He exhorts Pedobaptists and Affusionists to 
obey the gospel, assuring them that their baptism is noth- 
ing. I have heard none of our preachers that planks 
matters down any plainer and more uncompromisingly 
than Brother Shaw. I had my fears from what I had 
heard that he was not quite sound on some of these ques- 
tions, but my fears were soon dissipated. Brother Frank- 
lin himself, in his palmiest days, was never more tenacious 
for ^he integrity of first principles. I am glad to be able 
to bear this testimony. If Brother Shaw belonged to that 
class who pretend to believe the Reformation a failure, 
and who, therefore, preach liberalism, progression away 
from Jerusalem and the New Testament, anything, every- 
thing, and nothing, and smooth things over to get the 
good will of the sects, he might do us, as a people, 
immense harm. But he satisfied us here that he is a sound 
gospel preacher. If he preaches everywhere the same 
way he preached here, he w^ill pass current for a good 
^Campbellite,' which, being interpreted, means one who 
believes and practices as did Christ and his apostles. 

**We feel thankful to God for his abundant mercies, 
and shall endeavor, by his grace, to make ourselves still 
more worthy of his love. Our additions are mostly young 
people — some few middle-aged and heads of families — 
and all of an excellent and promising class. The prospect 
is good yet for more, and we will be somewhat disap- 
pointed if others do not come soon. P. B. Wiles." 

And a correspondent of the Standard says : 

*' Covington, October ^^i* 
**I regret that you have not been able to attend our 
meeting, now in its fourth week, to hear the sermons and 
songs, and see Brother Shaw's methods, so that you, from 
actual knowledge and observation, could have made a 
true, full and faithful report. 

*^I am sure that Brother Shaw has been greatly mis- 
understood, misrepresented and undervalued. I myself 
had a great prejudice against him, produced by repre- 



54 LIFE OF 

sentations that his mannerisms were objectionable, his 
methods frivolous, and his preaching chaffy, and the effects 
produced evanescent. A greater injustice could not be 
done him than so to represent him and his work. 

*'I have been a member of the Christian Church nigh 
unto forty years; I have heard all the old preachers — 
Campbells, Scott, Burnet, Franklin, Errett, Johnson, Moss, 
Creath, Gano, Smith, Hopson, McGarvey, Lard, and a 
host of others, and now I find Brother Shaw preaching 
the same gospel, and, by his zeal, devotion, logic, pathos, 
and fervent love for Christ and his cause, moving, by 
the help of God, multitudes to cry out, * What shall we 
do to be saved?' He is peculiarly adapted to the work of 
an evangelist, and should everywhere receive the cordial 
co-operation of all Christian workers. 

*'I wish he could remain and work in Kentucky five 
years. I believe he would warm up, and make aHve 
again, all the elements in all our churches, and push for- 
ward the grand movement ^iXy years. John F. Fisk." 

Brother Shaw speaks thus of his last meeting for 
the year : 

^'Jackson, Tennessee, December i8. 

*^Our work at South Bend closed on the 6th, with thirty 
additions. Truly, for so short a work, this was great suc- 
cess, under existing circumstances. The time only little 
over two weeks. Large congregations from the first. 
Compelled to get the Opera House after the first week. 
There are true and noble Christians in South Bend. A 
letter from there gives encouraging news. Prayer-meeting 
large, prospects good. I have been here one week — two 
added. Will remain another week. I go next to Colum- 
bus, Mississippi, by the 28th, and to Memphis by isth of 
January. Knowles Shaw." 

The aggregate additions from the above reports 
are five hundred and thirty, and, as stated, the reports 
by no means include all the results of the year. 



KNOWLES SHAW. 5 i? 

Imperfect as the reports are, however, few men 
have made such a record as we have given in a 
single year. 

During this year, too, he was pastor of the church 
at Chicago, to which about one hundred persons 
were added. He preached, while in the city, three 
times every Lord's Day, except when he preached 
four times, and in two cases only twice. Although 
his work was successful, when compared with that 
of others, he felt that his real work was that of an 
evangelist, and he accordingly decided to make that 
his chief work, and resigned his position on the 4th 
of September. The impression produced by read- 
ing such a record as the above is more like that pro- 
duced by a life, than a single year of earnest and 
faithful labor. 



?6 . LIFE OF 



CHAPTER V, 



His Love for the Lost — Blue Dick — Labors in the Murphy 
Movement — Sinp;ing '^ Lambs of the Upper Fold^^ at a 
Child^s Funeral, 

Brother Shaw was an enthusiast, but his enthusi- 
asm was the farthest possible remove from fanaticism. 
It had its origin in deep and earnest convictions, 
which found an outlet in ceaseless effort for the wel- 
fare of humanity. The world lying in wickedness 
v/as not a mere theory ; to him it was a solemn, an 
awful fact. He realized the danger of his fellow- 
men, and warned them of their peril, and strove to 
snatch them as brands from the burning. Every 
human soul was, in his eyes, a gem of priceless 
worth — condition and circumstances went for noth- 
ing — under all surroundings, favorable or otherwise, 
he saw an immortal soul to be saved or lost. Where 
others saw only a helpless, wretched, hopeless out- 
cast, he saw one for whom Christ died, who, under 
the influence of the gospel, might be cleansed from 
sin, have fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting 
life. He remembered that the Master came to seek 



KNOWLES SHAW. 5/ 

and save the lost; that his condescension led him to 
seek and lift up the lowly, and this led him to care 
for the souls of those for whom none else on earth 
seemed to care. 

Sometimes his brethren, with less faith in God and 
humanity than himself, would discourage his attempts 
to reform and save some who seemed utterly aban- 
doned and vile; but such opposition only added to 
his zeal, and made him increase his efforts in behalf 
of those whom men had forsaken, and who deemed 
themselves forsaken of God. 

Among those who called forth his deep sympathy 
was one who is still living — changed beyond all that 
was at one time thought possible, and whom we trust 
will be one of the brightest stars in Brother Shaw's 
crown of rejoicing. He was holding a meeting at 
some point on the Ohio River, where it was necessary 
for him to cross frequently. The first night of his 
meeting he went down to the river, but found the 
only ferryman to be a poor, ragged, besotted wretch, 
no hat on his head, his hair matted, his whole person 
filthy in the extreme, and giving evidence that he 
was even then under the influence of drink. His 
appearance was so forbidding, and his condition such 
that he was doubtful as to whether it would be safe 
to intrust himself in a frail skiff with such a ferry- 
man, and had there been any other and safer means 
of getting across he would have availed himself of it. 
But there was no other chance, and with some mis- 
givings as to the result he entered the boat. He 



58 LIFE OF 

soon found that, though under the influence of liquor, 
he knew how to manage his skiff, and feeling at ease 
on that matter, he began to talk with him. He asked 
him his name. 

" Blue Dick,'' was the reply. 

''But,*' said Shaw, "that is not really your name.'* 

** Well," said he, '*if I have any other, it has been 
so long since I heard it, I have almost forgotten what 
it is." 

Changing the subject abruptly, he asked, ''Why 
don't you quit drinking?" 

'*I can't," said the poor wretch." 

"Yes, you can," replied Shaw. 

Wondering that a stranger should take any interest 
in him, he said, ** Mister, do you think I could?" 

**0f course you can," said Shaw, in a kind and 
assuring manner. 

The poor fellow sat for some time in silence. It 
was long since any word of sympathy, interest or 
encouragement had fallen upon his ear, and the kind 
words of the stranger reached the heart which all 
his neighbors thought had ceased to feel. Deeply 
moved, he looked up and said, earnestly: 

"Mister, do you really think I could quit drinking?" 

"Have you a wife and children?" 

In a voice choked with emotion, and weeping 
bitterly, he said that he had. The way was now 
open. Shaw told him he was a preacher, and asked 
him to come and hear him. 

''Why," said he, "you would not let such a one 



KNOWLES SHAW. 59 

as me come ; and if you were willing, others would 
not like to see me there." 

Shaw urged him to come, assured him that he 
should be welcome ; that instead of being out of the 
reach of mercy, that it was such as he that Jesus 
came to save. Tenderly and earnestly he besought 
him to change his course, until the poor ferryman be- 
gan to think that there might be hope even for him. 
On reaching the other side, Shaw paid him his fare, 
and, as he did so, he pointed to a saloon that was near, 
and said, ''I do not like the idea of this money 
going to such a place as that ; can't you promise me 
that you will not drink any to-night, and I will come 
back, and you shall take me over the river again/* 
Blue Dick gave the required promise and they 
parted ; the preacher going to the house of God, 
and the ferryman, with emotions such as had not 
stirred in his heart for years, standing in deep 
thought by the rapid river under the watching stars. 
After meeting, Brother Shaw went down to the river, 
found Blue Dick waiting for him, showing by his 
manner that he had kept his promise not to drink. 
He gave him a few words of encouragement, and 
obtained his promise that he would come and hear 
him preach the following night. Great was the 
astonishment of many to see Blue Dick at church, 
and greater still to see the preacher, who had seen 
him come in and drop into the first empty seat that 
he found near the door, come up to him, take him 
by the hand, speak a few kind words to him, and 



6o LIFE OF « 

ask him^to come again. Night after night he came, 
and the warm hand of the preacher never failed to 
give that of Blue Dick a friendly grasp, and the 
fitting words spoken did not fail to strengthen the 
new purposes that were beginning to take shape in 
his mind. The coming of the one, and the marked 
attention shown him by the preacher, led some of 
the brethren to fear, yes fear, that this poor outcast 
might offer himself for membership ; and they even 
expressed their fears to Brother Shaw, and predicted 
that it would ruin the church if one such as he 
should attempt to enter the fold. Brother Shaw, 
however, did not fail to show, in their loveliest 
colors, the tenderness and compassion of Him who 
came to give hope to the hopeless, to seek and to 
save the lost. The lost sheep, and the wayward, 
wretched, ruined prodigal seemed to point to Blue 
Dick, and Blue Dick himself began to think they 
meant him; and one night, when the preacher, with 
even more than his wonted earnestness, urged the 
despairing and lost to come to Christ as their only 
hope. Blue Dick rose to come forward and accept 
the gospel offer. The preacher went half-way down 
the aisle to meet him ; angels doubtless, too, at that 
moment gave expression to their joy in glad song, 
and He who died to save the lost was, doubtless, glad 
to see that the lost was found. But, alas! while 
there was joy in heaven, the coming of poor Blue 
Dick to confess his Lord, to strive to lead a better 
life, did not send a thrill of joy through the church; 



KNOWLES SHAW. 6 1 

some there were who, hke the elder son in the par- 
able, thought that the returned wanderer would never 
be other than a disgrace to the family, thought that 
Blue Dick had gone too far to retrace his steps, and 
that his newly-formed resolutions would be broken 
on the very first invitation to take a drink, and that 
he would soon sink to even a lower depth, if pos- 
sible, than before. Such was the feeling of oppo- 
sition with regard to him that Brother Shaw did not 
take his confession and baptize him for several days, 
feeling, doubtless, that until he could change their 
views on the subject, that their coolness would repel 
and discourage, rather than help and save. Before 
the meeting closed, to the wonder of the wht)le com- 
munity. Blue Dick made a public confession of his 
faith in Christ, was baptized, and by his consistent 
life soon disarmed whatever of objection remained, 
and was regarded as a standing proof of the power 
of the gospel. 

Years passed by; the faithful evangelist revisited 
the same place. Blue Dick was no longer there ; he 
was transformed into Brother George M., one of the 
best members of the church ; he was living in a com- 
fortable home, surrounded by a loving and happy 
family, with every mark of neatness and thrift about 
them. As soon as Brother Shaw had entered this 
happy Christian home he who had been Blue Dick 
said: " Brother Shaw, kneel down and thank God for 
what he has done for me, that I, who when you met 
me was a poor, miserable, drunken sinner, have been 



62 ^ LIFE OF 

lifted up, and, by the mercy of God, am what I am 
to-day." Down they knelt; preacher, husband, wife, 
and children, all, all wept; but they were tears of 
joy ; and when they parted it was in the glad hope 
of meeting in that blessed land where no partings 
shall be. 

The fact that Shaw, at one period of his life, had 
contracted a taste for strong drink, and had strength 
and resolution enough to abandon at once and for 
ever that which had so nearly been his ruin, gave 
him great power over such as had been enslaved 
by the same appetite. His own escape from the 
snare made him feel great interest and hope for the 
escape of others; and to such his own case was a 
proof that, though they had wandered so long and 
far in the path of criminal self-indulgence, a return 
was not impossible. He not only approved the 
various temperance reforms which sprang up, but 
became a bold and fearless advocate of them. He 
did not wait for them to become popular, but was 
always in the advance of every movement upon that 
question. His labors in the temperance cause alone 
would have made him a man of mark, and yet his 
work in that field was only an episode in the labors 
of his life. He was quite prominent in what is 
known as the ** Murphy Movement.'* Indeed, few 
men did more to further it than he. He was never 
more at home than when before immense temper- 
ance mass meetings ; hundreds have signed the pledge 
under the influence of one of his impassioned appeals. 



KNOWLES SHAW. 63 

In quite a number of places, North and South, he in- 
augurated the ** Murphy Movement," and thousands 
under his labors were led to renounce the rule of the 
demon drink. During the last few months of his 
life he enlisted about fifteen hundred persons into 
the temperance army ; gaining one hundred and fifty 
at a single meeting only a few days before his death. 

While engaged in a meeting in Kentucky he was 
greatly prostrated by his excessive labors. The sis- 
ter at whose house he was stopping urged him to 
take some brandy, but he declined to touch it. The 
lady had some sent to his room and placed in his 
reach while he was asleep. When he awoke and 
found it so near him his old desire came back with 
fearful violence ; he arose from his bed, fell upon his- 
knees, and asked God for strength to overcome it, 
and, taking the bottle to the lady, told her how his 
long-slumbering appetite had been aroused, and 
begged her never again to place such a temptation 
in the way of any one who had ever been under the 
influence of that monster evil. 

Being able to hold in check the fearful craving 
that early indulgence had created, gave him great 
power in persuading others, who had lost all con- 
fidence in their ability to control their appetites, to 
make a struggle to do so; and not a few did so suc- 
cessfully. Many of his religious converts were per- 
sons who had fallen into this fearful vice, but in his 
esteem none were so fallen as to be beyond hope of 
recovery; and many such to-day are worthy and use- 



64 LIFE OF 

ful members of the church, who attribute their pres- 
ent condition, under God, to the earnest and unselfish 
labors of him who had aroused them to make an 
endeavor to escape when hope had almost died in 
their hearts. He seldom held a protracted meeting 
without delivering during its progress one or more 
spirited temperance lectures, which in many cases 
proved to be a preparative for the successful sowing 
in many hearts the good seed of the kingdom of 
God. Much of this temperance work was performed 
in the open air, in public squares and like places, 
where large crowds, who seldom visited churches, 
could be reached. Some of these gatherings, as for 
instance at the Capitol grounds in Jackson, Missis- 
sippi, and Lafayette Square, New Orleans, were 
such as never had been collected before for a similar 
purpose, and impressions were made such as will 
never fade away. 

A striking instance of his sympathy and power to 
adapt himself to circumstances took place in Hum- 
boldt, Kansas. A wealthy and prominent Presby- 
terian family had lost an infant. Brother Shaw went, 
uninvited, to the funeral; the Presbyterian minister 
preached a funeral sermon from a text in the Old 
Testament, and, after the discourse, the little white 
coffin, covered with flowers, resting on a marble- 
topped table in the parlor, was opened, that the 
friends and heart-stricken parents might take the 
last look at the little unconscious sleeper. The scene 
was painful, the parting severe, when, amid the sobs 



KNOWLES SHAW. . 6$ j 

and weeping, there fell upon their ears, in one of the I 
tenderest, sweetest voices they had ever heard, the 

following words : 

I 

*« I. Many children, dear to us while here, j 

Have gone, but we are told ] 

That our absent ones in heaven appear, j 

Among the saints enrolled, i 

As the lambs of the upper fold. j 

Chorus, \ 
**For Jesus leads the tender lambs ; 

They are now in the land where they ne'er grow old. 

How dear to us are the loving lambs, j 
The lambs of the upper fold. 

"2. I see the throng, I hear the song, \ 
'Mid the angels on the other shore; 
In the pastures green they are ever seen, 

On Canaan's peaceful shore. 

In the land where they weep no more, ; 

Chorus, i 

**3. Now let us live, to Jesus give \ 
Our strength while young and old, 
So when we are gone we may rest at home, 

And walk the streets of gold, 
With the lambs of the upper fold. 

Chorus, ; 

**4. Then let us go to the land above, \ 

And be with the saints enrolled, .] 

To bear the palm and wear the crown, j 

And share the bliss untold, . 

With the lambs of the upper fold." i 

Chorus, \ 

i 

The hearts of all were hushed, and the thoughts \ 

of the stricken ones were lifted from the lifeless clay . ] 

to the dear lost one, in the arms of the Good Shep- j 
herd. Shaw, entering into the spirit of the occasion, 

had sung one of his own sweet hymns, under cir- j 

cumstances that gave it great effect. It was just j 

5 ' • ' 



66 ' LIFE OF 

what the broken hearts before him needed. He was 
warmly thanked by the friends. The mother after- 
ward sent her grateful acknowledgments, and a 
request for a copy of the verses he had sung. And 
she reckons among her prized treasures the ** Lambs 
of the Upper Fold/' 



KNOWLES SHAW. 6/ 



CHAPTER VL 



Meeting at St. Louis — Great Interest — Reports of the Press — 

Results. 

As one is insensibly attracted to the hero whose 
progress from victory to victory he traces on the 
page of history, so in pursuing the Hfe of this true 
worker for Christ, I find my interest and admiration 
for him continually increasing. This, I am aware has 
a tendency to render me more partial than I desire 
to be ; and yet no one could follow the current of a 
life like his without being similarly affected. I am 
glad, therefore, at this, one of the most successful 
periods of his career, to be able to present to the 
reader the views of those whose feelings had not 
been enlisted like my own, namely, the reporters for 
the press in one of the largest cities of the West, 
who drew the picture of his labors as they passed 
before them, as they would have presented before 
the public the work of any one in any department 
whatever, who was creating an interest in the public 
mind. A great speaker on any theme, of any party 
in politics, of any school of philosophy, or sect in 



68 LIFE OF 

religion, would have been treated in tne same spirit 
of fairness, and freedom from either prejudice or 
undue prepossession, as was he. 

This was in the city of St. Louis, in the winter of 
1874. It must be remembered that Shaw did not find 
the clergy and churches of that great city all ready 
to receive him and heartily co-operate with him in 
his work ; not even a single large and influential 
religious party was thus prepared. His own brethren 
were neither numerous nor influential, and the influ- 
ence of other denominations was rather against than 
in favor of the effort he was about to make. St. 
Louis did not prepare for his coming as did the 
various cities of the East for the coming of Moody — 
making success a certainty before he came.' He 
came almost unheralded, and the success he achieved 
was his Oivn. The reports of his meeting will be 
given at considerable length, and from them the 
reader will be able to draw a pretty correct idea of 
the course he pursued at (nearly all the places he 
visited. A general idea of his manner and methods 
may be gained, the nature of his subjects and mode 
of treatment may be learned to a certain extent, but 
it must at the same time be remembered, as well as 
regretted, that neither in this place nor at any other, 
as far as I have been able to learn, was there a full 
and complete report of a single discourse taken and 
preserved ; a synopsis of several is given. They are, 
however, meager in the extreme ; outlines which 
the imagination will attempt in vain to fill up. But 



KNOWLES SHAW. 69 

the greatest charms of all, the looks, tones, the 
earnestness and pathos of the speaker, are not, and 
can not be described ; and yet, to those who never 
saw and heard him, even what has been rescued 
from oblivion by the reporter's pencil will be read 
with interest and highly prized. We shall present 
several notices of the progress of his meeting, as 
nearly as possible in the order in which they appeared. 
They are taken from the columns of the St. Louis 
Globe : 

<* ELDER KNOWLES SHAW. 

**St. Louis, February 22, 1874. 
' ' To the Editor of the Globe : 

*' Having learned that the great revivalist, Knowles 
Shaw, would preach at the Central Christian Church, Four- 
teenth and St. Charles Streets, on Sunday morning, I was 
induced to go and hear him. Mr. Shaw is certainly a man 
of extraordinary power, and; in my judgment, the equal, 
if not the superior, of Dr. Hammond in his influence over 
the masses. The hall in which he preached this morning 
was. crowded, and I have seldom seen an assembly of peo- 
ple so deeply moved with seemingly so little effort on the 
part of the speaker. 

*^ Mr. Shaw began his discourse by saying that he was 
not a ^systematic' preacher; that when he first began to 
preach he had his first, second, and third divisions of his 
subject, and then he divided his first into firstly, secondly, 
and thirdly, and then his second and third divisions into 
the same general heads, and so on through to the end; 
that he discovered before a great while that he was not 
doing any good, and that if he continued to preach he 
must change -his method, and he at once did so. He said 
that he had discovered that the great majority of preachers 
were engaged in trying to convert the heads of the people 
to the utter neglect of their hearts ; that by hammering 



yO LIFE OF 

away, driving doctrines and formulas Into the heads of 
men, the people had not only become hard-headed, but 
hard-hearted also. He thought that the head and the 
heart both needed to be converted. 

*^ Having failed in his first efforts, he determined to 
adopt as his motto the declaration of the great Apostle to 
the Gentiles, and ' I determined to know nothing among 
you but Jesus Christ and him crucified.' He then an- 
nounced as his text, 'Come, see the place where the 
Lord lay.' 

*' I will not attempt to give any idea even of the sermon. 
It was of a character that can not be even sketched. The 
streaming eyes of the whole audience gave evidence of the 
power of the man and the effectiveness of his words. If 
any one desires to have his soul moved to its profoundest 
depths, let him go and listen an hour to Mr. Shaw." 

The next is as follows : 

' * Elder Shaw had a good audience at thie hall, corner 
Fourteenth and St. Charles Streets, last night. 

** Taking for his text the words, 'Ye do always resist 
the Holy Spirit,' he illustrated it by the case of a young 
man learning to drink. How the first time of entering 
the rum-shop he would go in at the back door and take 
something, and, on coming out, look carefully up and 
down the street to see if any one had observed his move- 
ments. By and by he gets bolder, and at last enters the 
front door and calls for his brandy like the rest of the 
crowd. At first he conceals all this from his mother. 
Later he doesn't care if the 'old woman' does know it. 
And so he goes on resisting the pleadings of his conscience 
till it no longer upbraids him. Resisting the Holy Spirit 
was explained as the resistance of any good influence, or 
any truth, which a man's inward conciousness might de- 
clare to him. The subject was illustrated in other ways, 
and then the audience moved down-stairs to a room on 
the first floor, where three young ladies signified their 
choice of the good part which can not be taken away by 
undergoing the rite of baptism at the Elder's hands. 



KNOWLES SHAW. 7i 

** Elder Shaw only arrived last Sunday, and already 
some forty additions have been made to the church.'' 

The next is at greater length. 

**The hall on the corner of Fourteenth and St. Charles 
Streets was crowded again last evening to hear Elder Shaw. 
The interest is increasing nightly, and it will soon be nec- 
essary to obtain another place in order to accommodate 
the audience. The subject of Elder Shaw last evening 
was 

*** ANGELS AND THEIR MISSION.' 

**This subject, he said, is supposed to belong by many 
to the dreamy realms of speculation, and that it evinces 
weakness to dwell upon such themes. If so, then we 
are identified with such weak ones as Noah, Job and 
Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Joshua, the holy apostles 
and martyrs and great reformers. This is a Bible theme 
to comfort God's children and warn the sinner. Angel 
means messenger ; any one sent may be called an angel, 
but I shall speak of angels as an order of beings in God's 
creation. 

** I. They were created angels. Many think they were 
once human beings and transformed into angels, but Paul 
says, in Hebrews xii: *Ye are come to the spirits of just 
men and an innumerable company of angels,' thus draw- 
ing a line of distinction between them. He says, in He- 
brews, first chapter and last verse, that the angels are 
ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation. 

** 2. Their number. Jesus said he could call more than 
twelve legions of angels — more than 60,000. John saw 
* ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thou- 
sands,' one hundred millions and more — how many he 
does not say. Paul says the company is innumerable. 

^'3. Their strength. David sang of the angels that 
excel in strength. The angel destroyed the first-born in 
all Egypt where God's direction had not been followed. 
An angel rolled away the stone from the tomb of Christ — 
strength to do whatever God has for them to do for man. 



^2 LIFE OF 

^' 4. Swiftness of their flight. They came on swift wings 
to comfort God's people. Daniel was praying, and he 
says : * Gabriel was commanded to fly swiftly, and he came 
to me, and touched me, and spoke to me.' He was com- 
forted by an angel of God. If the poet is correct when 
he says, 

** * 'Tis far beyond the stars and sun, 
That blissful heaven above, 
Where we may dwell when time is done, 
By serving God in love,' 

then the angel's flight — passing world after world, till 
reaching our sun, and yet 95,000,000 of miles to earth- 
sped, through this wondrous space all in a very few min- 
utes, for Daniel's prayer occupied but a short time, and 
the angel came while he was *yet praying.' This illus- 
trates the swiftness of their flight; but all this, though 
wonderful, is of but little value without a knowledge of 

THEIR MISSION. 

*'They are ministering spirits for the hei-rs of salvation, 
says Paul, Hebrews i. Notice a few instances : Daniel in 
the lion's den rescued by an angel of God; Shadrach, 
Meshach, and Abed-nego, the three Hebrew children cast 
hi to the furnace. God sent his angel to comfort them, 
and to quench the violence of the fire. But in the New 
Testament we learn that an angel announced to Mary that 
she should be the mother of the Saviour. Soon after 
Christ's birth, during the edict of Herod, the angel warned 
Joseph and Mary to flee into Egypt for the safety of the 
child. After Herod's death the angel told them to return. 
After he grew up to manhood, and immediately after his 
baptism, when tempted in the wilderness, the 'angels 
ministered unto him.' 

**When in dark Gethsemane, with no human eye to 
watch with him, and no sympathizing friend, behold an 
^ angel came strengthening him.' 

*' When arrested, Jesus said he could call more than 
twelve legions of the angels. After his death and burial, 
on the third morning an angel rolled away the stone from 



KNOWLES SHAW. 73 

the sepulcher, and told the women he was risen from the 
dead. After forty days, Jesus, as he was blessing his dis- 
ciples, was taken up out of their sight. Two angels came 
down, stood by the weeping disciples, and said, * Why 
stand ye gazing? This same Jesus shall come again.' 
They were comforted and returned to Jerusalem to await 
the promise. 

** Yes, * Angels did his steps attend, 

Oft gazed and wondered where at length 
That scene of love should end. 

" * They saw him in the garden pray, 
They saw his sweat and blood; 
They saw his tender hands and feet 
Nailed to the accursed wood. 

•* * They brought his chariot from the skies 
To bear him to his throne ; 
And with a shout exulting cried, 
The glorious work is done.' 

**But angels delivered the apostles oft from prison and 
trouble. They wafted the spirit of poor Lazarus to the 
Paradise of God, and laid him in Abraham's bosom. So 
they ministered to salvation's heirs. ^ They encamped 
round-about them that fear God.' How thankful should 
we be 

<* That the angels of bliss 
Can bow their bright wings to a dark world like this ; 
Can leave the bright mansions of glory above, 
To breathe in our bosoms some message of love. 

** Yes, they come ; on the wings of the morning they come, 
Impatient to bear some poor wanderer home ; 
Some pilgrim to snatch from this stormy abode, 
And lay him to rest in the arms of his God." 

** But the angels are 

ANXIOUS FOR THE SINNER. 

** There is rejoicing among the angels over one sinner 
that repenteth. Yes, poor sinner, they are ready to shout 
over your conversion to God; let them have a grand jubi- 
lee in heaven to night. 



74 LIFE OF 

^^ Christ is the author of eternal salvation to all them 
that obey him. Come and obey the Savior; be an heir 
of salvation, and all the comforts of angelic ministration 
may be yours. The angels will be used in the last days. 
The harvest is the end of the world/ and the reapers are 
the angels, to gather the tares for the fire, but the wheat 
for the garner of the Lord. May you all be found in that 
day on the side of Jesus; to insure this, enlist in his army. 
Now, come to-night. 

*^ There are reporters here taking down my poor scat- 
tering words, my weak and imperfect appeals to you to 
come to Jesus; but there are other reporters here—the 
angels of God are here — and they are taking note of emo- 
tions that crowd your hearts, and they will report them to 
the loving Jesus. They are here to waft the glad news of' 
your return to God, when all heaven will rejoice. Will 
you come to Jesus, and come nowV^ 

ELDER SHAW'S REVIVAL CONTINUES TO INCREASE 

IN INTEREST. 

''The meetings at the Central Christian Church, Four- 
teenth and St. Charles Streets, are growing in interest. 
The hall was filled to its utmost capacity, many persons 
standing in the aisles, who were unable to obtain seats. 

*' Mr. Shaw, as his custom is, before the regular serv- 
ice, read a portion of Scripture — Luke, 19th chapter — 
and made some practical comments respecting the neces- 
sity of sinners coming to Jesus. He said, if sinners would 
see Jesus, they must do as Zaccheus did, get above the 
world. They must persevere and press through difficulties, 
and Jesus will go with him and 'sup with him.' After 
singing and praying the speaker introduced his subject — 
"'the glorious gospel,' 

Taking as his text 2 Corinthians iv. 3, 4 : ' But if our gos- 
pel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost : in whom the god 
of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe 
not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is 
the image of God, should shine unto them.' 



KNOWLES SHAW. 75 

*^A11 God's works are glorious, from the atom to the 
archangel. The flower that blooms at our feet, the grassy- 
carpet of the earth, the songsters in the air, the beautiful 
stars in the vaulted heavens, all, to the Bible student, pro- 
claim the glory of God. So that while the gloomy lie of 
the Atheist goes the rounds, that there is no God, every 
pulsation of his own heart, every atom of his own nature, 
everything around, above, and beneath contradict him, 
saying, ^ There is a God, and he is thy Maker.' And yet 
there is one scene around which cluster the chief glory of 
God — one wreath, the most glorious of all — and that is 
the wreath around the cross of Christ. Let us consider 
some of the reasons for calling the gospel glorious. First, 
on account of its origin. It came from heaven ; it is not 
a plant of earthly renown. It author, Christ, came from 
the bosom of the Father. The all-glorious Saviour, by 
whom all worlds were made, is the center, soul, and cir- 
cumference of the gospel. His death, his burial, his 
resurrection, as Paul saith — i Corinthians xv. — are the 
great themes of the gospel. But some will say, *This gos- 
pel came not from God.' Then whence came it — from 
man? Did bad men make it ? No; they would not con- 
demn themselves on its every page. Bad men would not 
like to write their own eternal death warrants. If bad men 
made it, they have made the best book ever written. 
When I gather figs from thistles, grapes from the thorn- 
tree, and dip sweet waters from a bitter fountain, I may 
believe that bad men made the gospel. Did good men 
make it? No. 

^*ALL MEN MAY MAKE MISTAKES. 

**Good men may err sometimes; but a good man will 
not lie willingly and die for his falsehood. All those whose 
names appear upon its page say it came from God. Holy 
men of old spake as they were moved by the Spirit. The 
apostles spake the words the Holy Spirit taught them. 
Yes, glorious in its origin ; glorious as its divine Author. 
The gospel is glorious on account of its rarity. It is the 
only thing of the kind in all God's universe. If diamonds 



T6 life of 

were as plentiful as grains of corn they would not be val- 
uable. 'Tis their rarity that is the reason of their value. 
The gospel is the only seed from which the Christian 
grows; the only plan of salvation for a lost world; the 
only proclamation of pardon and promise of life eternal 
in all the realms of God known to mortals. Let us illus- 
trate. See that mother bending over that little pair of 
shoes and those little dresses in yonder drawer. Her tears 
drop like rain. What meaneth this? Mother, will you 
sell those little shoes ? No, no, she replies. Will you sell 
those little dresses ? No. Why not ? She answers, there 
are no other little shoes my darling baby's feet ever wore ; 
no other little dresses she used to wear. Yes [here Mr. 
Shaw sung the song], 

** * Put aside the little dresses 

That our darling used to wear, 
She will need them on earth never, 

She has climbed the golden stair. 
She is with the happy angels, 

And I long for one sweet kiss ; 
Where those little feet are waiting, 

In the realms of perfect bliss ; 
For the angels whisper that our darling 

Is in the land of love so fair, 
That her little feet are waiting 

Close beside the golden stair. 

** * Kiss those little curly tresses, 

Cut from her bright golden hair; 
Do the angels kiss our darling 

In that world of love so fair ? 
Oh, we pray to meet our darling 

For a long, long, fond embrace, 
Where her little feet are waiting, 

And we'll see her face to face.' 

**Were the gospel obliterated it could not be repro- 
duced, and man would soon fall back into terrible hea- 
thenism. Glorious in its rarity ; next, it is glorious in its 
simplicity. Its facts are easily understood ; they are three : 
The death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 
(i Corinthians xv. i, 4. ) Its commands are simple and 
readily comprehended; there are three to induct us into the 



KNOWLES SHAW. 7/ 

kingdom here: Believe in Christ (Romans x. 9, 10. John 
iii. 18) ; repent of all your sins (Acts xvii. 30. Luke xiii. 
3, 5) ; be baptized (Mark xvi. 16. Acts ii. 38. Acts x. 48, 
etc.). These several commands must be obeyed to finish 
the work. (See 2 Peter i. 5-9.) All these are easily under- 
stood. The gospel is glorious on account of its simplicity. 
I am often amused, and sometimes pained, to hear minis- 
ters making such terrible efforts to display their learning, 
instead of using it to make a matter so plain that it can 
not be misunderstood. They make it so mysterious with 
their highfalutin, toploftically, grandiloquent superlatives 
that it can't be comprehended. What think you of a 
preacher who says, * A city situate on an eminence is con- 
spicuous,' instead of ^ A city set on a hill can not be hid?' 
The gospel is plain. The feeblest intellect accountable to 
God can comprehend it. It is perfectly adapted to all 
responsible beings. 

* * Fourth and last : The gospel is glorious in its influ- 
ence. This influence is threefold; it is enlightening. 
'The entrance of thy word,' says the Psalmist, *giveth 
light.' Said Jesus to Saul of Tarsus: I have appeared 
unto you to send you to the Gentiles, to open their eyes, 
to turn them from darkness to light. In nature, no light 
no life: so in grace. * It is pure, enlightening the eyes.' 
It is controlling in its influence. How many are here 
whom the gospel has controlled; bringing them from a.wful 
sinfulness to the happy state of the justified ! (See Acts ii. 
23, to close of the chapter; also i Corinthians 6, 9, 10, 11.) 
These were all conquered by the gospel." Here Mr. Shaw 
gave several touching cases of conversion under his own 
observation. One of the most striking was that of ' ' Blue 
Dick," a notorious drunkard, redeemed, happiness brought 
to wife and children, and to the poor man's own heart, 
and to society. These were related with thrilling eflect. 
"Lastly, the gospel's influence is comforting in its promises, 
pardon, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and a home in heaven. 
It promises the rebel sinner pardon and peace ; it offers to 
the homeless a home beyond the shadows of the grave ; 
to the tempest-tossed mariner on life's boisterous ocean a 



78 LIFE OF 

quiet haven, into which his vessel may sail for safety. To 
the weary, foot-sore traveler it offers a rest after the jour- 
ney is past. Oh, glorious gospel! It gives us back our 
loved ones, now departed. It is balm to the wounded 
soul. It wipes the mourner's tears away, and gives us 
peace; opens the gate to the soul when the night of death 
comes ; ushers us into that blessed society of the angels 
and all the holy throng. Sinner, will you accept this glori- 
ous gospel ? Come to the Savior ; no longer delay. He 
calls you now; has been calling long; open your hearts 
and let him come in. Now, while the Father is smiling, 
while Jesus is pleading, while angels are ministering, while 
glory is beaming, while the glorious gospel is calling, and 
Christians praying for you, come; come now, a warm 
heart's welcome will be given you. This offer will not 
stand forever ; the time will come when these opportuni- 
ties will be yours no more. Who will come ?" 

ELDER KNOWLES SHAW AT MASONIC HALL. 

^*The interest in these meetings does not flag in the 
least. There was a large audience present in the morn- 
ing, and at night the large hall was hterally full. We 
have seldom seen such marked attention in so large an 
audience. At the close of the morning services five or 
six persons were received into the church. The meetings 
will be continued through the week at the hall on Four- 
teenth and St. Charles Streets. 

'* It is Mr. Shaw's custom to sing while the people are 
gathering, and this morning, although suffering from cold, 
he sang several songs from his own book, called ' Spark- 
ling Jewels.^ After these songs he read a portion of Scrip- 
ture, and commented on it — particularly the text, ^Receive 
ye one another, without regard to difference of opinion,'* 
He said that opinions are based on reason — human reason 
is fallible, and ought not, under any circumstances, be set 
up as conditioins of fellowship. He illustrated hrs point 
by a number of examples, and closed this lesson with an 
exhortation to bear with one another; that none other 
than a selfish spirit would insist on the adoption of his 



KNOWLES SHAW. 79 

opinions to the exclusion of all others. Such action on 
the part of any one demonstrated that he valued his own 
opinions more than he valued the wisdom of God and of 
Christ, who has taught us to receive one another in love, 
without regard to these differences. God is judge— who 
art thou, who condemns? Every man stands or falls be- 
fore his own Master. 

** The subject for the morning was 

'^ 'the mediation of CHRIST,' 

From the text in Second Timothy, second chapter and 
fifth verse — 'For there is one God and one Mediator be- 
tween God and man— the man Christ Jesus.' Not gods 
many and mediators many, nor, as we have it in our day, 
one God and many mediators — not that. There is one 
God, and there is one Mediator, and that one Mediator is 
Jesus the Christ. 

''The necessity for mediation grew out of the fall of 
man. Before man sinned he communed with God di- 
rectly — without a 'middle one,' or a 'between man.' 
How long this happy age lasted we know not, nor is it 
important that we should. It continued until man sinned ; 
then came the necessity of mediation. Man could no 
longer approach God in his own person ; he has become 
defiled by sin. For four thousand years the mediation 
was more or less imperfect. Man approached God through 
the sacrifice of an animal presented by one appointed and 
set apart for that duty. In the patriarchal age the father 
of the family officiated for himself and family. But these 
were but men, and imperfect men besides, who had first 
to offer 

"sacrifice for themselves, 

And then for the people, and the sacrifice itself had no 
consciousness of sin, and the mediation was necessarily 
imperfect. Then came the Mosaic dispensation. Moses 
was mediator between God and the people, and interceded 
for them when they sinned. Afterward the tribe of Levi 
was set apart to the priest's office, and offered the sacri- 
fices for the people; but these were only men, and imper- 



80 LIFE OF 

feet men, too, the same imperfect mediators, the same 
sacrifices having no consciousness of sin, could not make 
the comers thereunto perfect. Angels partook not of the 
nature of man, and did not, therefore, possess the requi- 
site qualifications. There is one Mediator, between God 
and man, the man Christ Jesus. This leads to the inquiry 
respecting the characteristics of a perfect mediator. He 
must be acquainted with both parties; must understand 
the nature and disposition of both parties ; he must under- 
stand the nature of the difficulty; he must possess the con- 
fidence of both parties; must be related to both. These 
qualifications are all possessed by the Lord Jesus Christ. 
He is divine, and he is human; consequently related 
to both parties. 

***HE WAS WITH GOD,' 

He has been with man. He is acquainted with the re" 
quirements of the Divine government; he knows the 
weaknesses of the human nature, for he was human; he 
knows our frames ; he experienced our sorrows, our tears, 
our disappointments, our anxieties; he has felt and he 
understands the depth and strength of the sympathies and 
affections of the human heart; he passed through them 
all, from the cradle to the grave. There are those who 
imagine that children do not have troubles and trials and 
disappointments, but they do, and Jesus sympathizes with 
them as he does with children of a larger growth ; he took 
them into his arms and blessed them. He then gave sev- 
eral cases to illustrate the deep affections and anxious 
solicitude of the little ones, and the way in which parents 
often treat their little ones and crush out these emotions 
and loves ; and sang two verses of a little song with thrill- 
ing eifect. 

*' Jesus sympathizes with the young. He sympathizes 
with the race in every condition of life. He began at the 
base of the hill. He passed through every condition in 
life. He 'saw it all. He felt it all. He stooped to the 
lowest. None too low for Jesus' sympathy — none so high 
he can not reach. With one hand he lays hold on the 
throne of God, with the other the human race, and thus 



KNOWLES SHAW. 8 1 

he mediates peace. He has purchased your peace by the 
sacrifice of himself. God is waiting for the sinner's re- 
turn. Will you not accept of the mediation of Christ, 
and become reconciled to God ?" 

We close these extracts with the following: 

** Elder Shaw preached to another large audience last 
evening. Since the commencement of his meetings the 
interest has been steadily on the increase and many souls 
have been converted from the ways of sin to a belief in 
future salvation. After the services last evening a num- 
ber of converts were baptized. We give below a synopsis 
of his sermon. The text was taken from Amos, fourth 
chapter and twelfth verse: ' Prepare to meet thy God.' 

* ' The meeting with God is inevitable, else the warning 
had never been given. It is a solemn warning, and 
admonitions come to us every day, every hour, every 
moment. We have this warning in the falling leaves, our 
dying friends ; everything sounds out a solemn warning, 
yet thousands act as if they never expected to meet God. 
Ye I Paul says: *A11 things are open to him with whom 
we have to do.' We have to do with God, we have to 
meet him. All conditions must meet him, old and young, 
rich and poor, saint and sinner. There are no exceptions, 

*^NO EXEMPTIONS — ALL, ALL 

Must meet God. I wish I could impress this solemn 
truth on every heart in this hall to-night. It is God's 
warning voice ; will you heed it ? 

*'We must meet God in providence. There are those 
who do not believe in the providence of God, particularly 
in special providences, but it is found in history, in 
the lives of the prophets, of apostles, of every man and 
woman that lives, or ever has lived. Every day we live 
we meet God in his providences, 7i/e meet him in the death 
of friends y in hours of sorrow and of joy, in rejoicings and 
in tears, 

'* * In every condition, in sickness, in death, 
In poverty's vale or abounding in wealth,* 

6 



LIFE OF 82 

And we must be prepared for all these. Men, when en- 
gaged in battle, prepare for the conflict; preparation is 
more than half the battle; we have to meet temptation 
and must prepare for it. Jesus prepared himself to meet 
death by prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. Necessity 
for a preparation was illustrated by examples from life; 
the effect of want of preparation in adversity, and the 
result of a preparation, was forcibly and feelingly set 
forth. 

*^WE MUST MEET GOD IN DEATH. 

* ' This is not a pleasant picture to contemplate. We love 
to talk of joy and pleasures and happiness, but it is not 
pleasant to contemplate the separation from friends, from 
all we love on earth ; the decay of our bodies ; the grave 
with all its darkness — but these are realities and must be 
met. We must meet God in judgment; that day which 
shall reveal the secrets of all hearts. The motives of the 
heart will be the basis of that judgment — not from mere 
outward appearance. All sins unforgiven will stand out 
in all their blackness and terribleness to condemn us for- 
ever. A preparation is absolutely necessary. Think not to 
leave it off till death shall come ; do not wait for God to 
do more. Till you have done your duty God will do no 
more; he has done nearly all. Just a little for you to do 
— do it without delay. 

^'THE PREPARATION — WHAT IS IT? 

'*We find man unregenerated, unprepared in heart, in 
the purpose of his life, and in his relation or state. How 
came he so ? When man dwelt in Eden pure and holy, 
he was first induced to unbelief through falsehood preached 
by Satan, who negatived God's word — this unbelief ruined 
the heart— then this bad heart suggested a change of will 
from good to bad, or repentance from God in a resolve to 
disobey God's command ; then when icnbelief had ruined 
the hearty and a resolve to do wrong had ruined man's pur- 
pose or will^ then an overt act of disobedience, in eating the 
forbidden fruit, was the ruin of man's state or relation. 
On account of this act man was driven out of Eden. 



KNOWLES SHAW. 83 

Now, if belief of falsehood or unbelief of the truth ruins 
the heart, the belief of truth or faith will purify the heart. 
Paul says, 'God purifies the heart by faith.' After a 
l)reparation of the heart by faith, then the will is prepared 
by 



** 'repentance toward god. 



**This is induced by godly sorrow and leads to refor- 
ination of life. And as man is wrong in his relation, he 
must now file his intention to become a citizen of Christ's 
kingdom, by a public confession of Christ as the Divine 
Saviour, the only atoning sacrifice for sin, after which his 
state is changed, by the ' oath of allegiance ' in holy bap- 
tism, into the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This 
preparation is finished by a life of piety and prayerfulness, 
thus becoming assimilated to the character of God. In 
all this we are aided, instructed, and guided by the Holy 
Spirit, who enables us to bear the precious fruits of a holy 
life. Prepare now ; defer not this most important of all 
matters. The solemn warning is heard from all our dying 
friends. Your own hearts tell you we must prepare soon, 
or meet God unprepared. Oh, how solemn the thought — 
to be ushered into the presence of the Holy God and 
Jesus Christ without due preparation. Begin by giving 
your heart to Christ ; then you may die with your face 
heavenward, with all the rich promises of the gospel to 
cheer you as you pass through the valley.*' 

As the result of these labors pne hundred and fifty- 
persons were added to the church, many weak and 
weary ones strengthened and refreshed, and seed 
sown in many hearts, of which eternity alone will 
tell the harvest. 



84 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER VIL 



Anecdotes — A Change of Heart Wanted — Scoffer Silenced — 
Danger of Lnmersion — Slanderer Reproved — Universalists 
Answered — Convention Quieted — Humorous Answers. 

Traveling extensively as he did, and mingling 
with all classes of men, he had of necessity a large 
and varied experience. He was everywhere at home, 
and equal to the occasion, whatever it might be. A 
volume might be filled with incidents, both amusing 
and instructive, but a few must suffice. 

At one of his meetings a gentleman was deeply 
impressed, and told Shaw, with tears, that, if he 
could only experience a change of heart, he would 
confess Christ and be baptized immediately. He 
perceived at once the nature of the difficulty, which 
was the too common idea that a change of heart 
was a miraculous change, and not one produced by 
a belief in, and love for the Lord Jesus Christ. He 
asked him if he was sorry for his past sins? if he 
wanted to be a Christian? if he loved God? if he 
desired to go to heaven? if he believed with all his 
heart that Jesus Christ was the Son of the living 



KNOWLES SHAW. 85 

God ? To each of these questions, with the greatest 
earnestness and sincerity, he replied, *'I do. " **Then,'' 
said Shaw, ''you have all the preparation needed to 
become a member of the Church of Christ. If your 
heart were changed from what it now is, you would 
7wt be sorry for your sins ; you would not want to be 
a Christian ; you would hate God ; you would deny 
the divinity of Christ, and reject the Savior." He 
at once saw his mistake, confessed his faith in Christ, 
and was baptized. 

At Dowagiac, Michigan, in 1876, the following 
incident took place, which shows the readiness with 
which he could meet and silence a scoffer. He had 
been invited to visit that place after his great meet- 
ing at Buchanan, Michigan, where two hundred and 
twenty-six additions had been made in less than a 
month. Of course his expected visit was the theme 
of common conversation, and his coming was looked 
for with great interest. He reached the place at a 
time when no one was looking for him, and at once 
went into a shoe-store, where he found a number of 
persons discussing the subject of baptism, and learned 
from their conversation that a meeting was in prog- 
ress at the church with which he expected to labor, 
and that additions by baptism had been made almost 
daily. 

For some time he sat a silent listener, until one of 
the party said that he would go down to the river 
and be baptized by the ''Campbellites " for a dollar. 
Upon this Shaw hastily took a dollar out of his 



86 LIFE OF 

pocket-book and offered it to the man who had 
made the above remark, saying : 

''Here is your dollar; I will go down and see you 
baptized." 

The man hesitated, and finally refused to take it; 
but Shaw urged him, and insisted that he should do 
as he had declared he would do. He then made 
a decided refusal, and Shaw said to him: 

'T knew you were lying when you made the 
offer, and now you are proved guilty." 

''What is your name?" said the man thus accused. 

''My name is Shaw," was the reply." 

**What !" said the man, *'Shaw the great revivalist ?" 

"That is what they sometimes call me," replied 
Shaw. 

The man was greatly mortified, but, instead of 
cherishing hatred against him who had administered 
such a severe rebuke, he became one of Brother 
Shaw's warmest friends. 

Another incident of a somewhat different charac- 
ter took place at De Soto, Iowa, in the winter of 
1872. Brother Shaw was conducting a series of meet- 
ings there, and the interest became intense, not only 
in the town, but for miles around, and scores of con- 
verts were added to the church. Among the con- 
verts was a young lady who had long been in feeble 
health, and was supposed to have heart disease. 
Some of her friends, who were greatly opposed to 
immersion, endeavored to convince her that immer- 
sion in her case would probably result in death. She 



KNOWLES SHAW. 8/ 

was, however, firm in her determination, and true to 
her convictions of duty, and, regardless of all oppo- 
sition, was immersed by Brother Shaw. The day 
following the report became current that she was 
very ill, and that her immersion would most likely 
result in her death. That night, as the meeting was 
about to close, Shaw noticed this young lady was in 
the audience, and, calling attention to the current 
report concerning her illness, he said: **This sister 
is not dead, nor is she seriously ill, as I will now 
prove." And then added: ** Sister, will you please 
stand up on the seat that all may see you?'^ She 
complied with his request; when he said: ** There 
she is ; d6 you see her? Now, let those who started 
and circulated the false report hang their heads in 
shame." This scene was not forgotten, and served 
to increase the interest of the meeting. 

During his great meeting at Buchanan, Michigan, 
a Methodist preacher, resident there, endeavored to 
change the current of public feeling, which was in 
Shaw's favor, by gross misrepresentations of his 
views. On becoming acquainted with the facts in 
the case, Shaw said to his audience, which was an 
immense one, that a certain preacher (naming him) 
had made some false statements, which he specified 
in full. He then said: '*I now advertise this man as 
guilty of willful falsehood. May God have mercy on 
him." Soon after the preacher sought an interview 
with him, confessed the wrong he had done, and 
asked forgiveness. As soon as an opportunity pre- 



88 LIFE OF 

sented itself, Shaw publicly called attention to the 
statements he had previously made, and said : 
*' Brethren and friends, this man has repented of his 
wrong-doing and asked forgiveness. Let every one 
forgive him. I forgive him most freely, and may 
God's richest blessings rest upon him." This made 
a deep impression, and many were moved to tears. 

He rather avoided than provoked controversy, 
preferring to win by kindness than conquer by force. 
An instance of this occurred at Humboldt, Kansas, 
during one of his meetings there. Two young men, 
Universalists, approached him on the street, and said : 

**We have heard, sir, that you are an able and 
bold defender of the Christian faith. Will you tell 
us what you think of hell? Is there such a place, 
where the wicked are tormented in fire forever and 
ever? We are very anxious to have that question 
settled, and we hope you will be able to give us 
some light upon it.'* 

Shaw fixed his eyes on the ground for a moment, 
as in deep thought, and then looking up, replied: 
**I shall preach to-night, in Young's Hall, on Bridge 
Street, and as there may be others whose thoughts 
are turned in the same direction as yours, if you will 
come I will give my views on that subject, so that 
all may have the benefit of them." 

This pleased them, and they soon spread the report 
that Knowles Shaw was going to tell what he thought 
about hell that night ; and the result was not only 
every seat, but all the standing-room, was occupied. 



KNOWLES SHAW. 89 

He took as his theme the ''Christian Life/' and 
until nearly the close of the discourse did not make 
the slightest allusion to the subject that had brought 
so many there. At length he said: ''Two young 
men accosted me on the street to-day and asked my 
opinion concerning hell. I promised to give it to- 
night, and, as they are here, I will proceed to do 
so. Within a few years past the angel of death has 
visited my fam.ily three times, taking one of my be- 
loved children at each visit. I thought perhaps that 
the climate in which I lived had something to do 
with this fatality, and began to ask myself, May I 
not find a healthier region than where I now reside? 
I thought of my only daughter, her weakly consti- 
tution, her lack of vital force, and wondered if I 
could not find a more congenial climate, where she 
might be longer spared to me than I feared she 
would where we dwelt. I heard of Kansas, its broad 
prairies, its pure and healthful atmosphere. I asked 
every one I saw that had been there about its cli- 
mate, water, and especially about its society; and 
the reports I heard were so favorable that I finally 
resolved to go. After I started, my anxiety increased, 
and I did not close my inquiries until I reached 
here. Now, why all that interest, all those inquiries? 
Simply because the thought of going there had taken 
full possession of my mind. 

"About sixteen years ago I became dissatisfied 
with this world, its short-lived and fading pleasures, 
and raised the question, Is there not a better world 



90 LIFE OF 

than this ? I was told that there was ; that the name 
of that land was Heaven ; that its capital was the 
New Jerusalem, whose streets were paved with gold ; 
that its walls were jasper, and its gates pearl ; that 
the river of life flowed through it; that it was a 
healthful clime ; no sickness nor sorrow there ; that 
its society was pure, composed of the best that the 
earth had ever known; and that I should be happy- 
forever if I could enter there. The testimony was 
good ; it came from the Son of God ; Jesus had left 
the courts of glory, and came all the way to this 
sinful world of ours to tell us of his Father^s house, 
with its many mansions ; and then went back, after 
sealing the testimony with his blood, to prepare a 
place for us. I believed the testimony ; and having 
a desire to better my condition, I started with a gen- 
uine ticket, stamped with, *He that believeth and 
is baptized shall be saved. ' I have been traveling in 
that direction ever since, making inquiries of the 
Book of God all the way. The nearer I get the clearer 
are the directions ; and I am so fully persuaded that 
it is the best country to which a man can journey 
that I am constantly telling others all I know about 
it, and trying to get them to go with me to share its 
joys. As to tha;t other country, about which those 
young men are so anxious to hear, I must say that 
I have heard of it, but the reports were so very unfa- 
vorable that I concluded it was not as good a coun- 
try, and perhaps much worse than this; and as I 
never thought of emigrating unless it were to a better 



KNOWLES SHAW. Ql 

country, and to better my condition, I have thought 
but Httle about it, as I have not the least intention 
or desire to go there. I have therefore determined 
to spend my time in setting forth the glories of the 
better country, of heaven. We want you all to go 
with us ; we want bold and true soldiers ; hell-scared 
ones don't amount to much, unless you can manage 
to keep them scared all the way." The answer was 
satisfactory — there was no reason for wishing to hear 
more about hell. 

He was ready-witted, self-possessed, had a sense 
of the fitness of things. If his audience seemed 
dull or wearied, he would stop preaching, and sing 
a lively song or tell an apt story, which never failed 
to rest and revive. 

In the same way he would relieve the monotony 
of a business meeting, and even bring order out of 
confusion. He attended a convention at one time, 
but did not reach the place until the audience was 
gathered. The house was packed ; no one knew 
him, and he took his seat among the crowd until the 
session was closed and the people dismissed. They 
were slow to leave, however ; greetings took place 
between those who had not met for a season ; the 
members residing there were inviting strangers to 
their homes; all over the house groups were engaged 
in conversation, and all so absorbed that no one could 
hear the chairman of the meeting, who had forgotten 
to make an important announcement, and was vainly 
endeavoring to gain the attention of the crowd to 



92 LIFE OF 

rectify the mistake. His efforts were all in vain. 
All were so interested in hearing or talking to each 
other that after several attempts he was obliged to 
give up in despair. At this juncture, Shaw got up 
on one of the seats and began to sing. All in the 
house soon had their attention attracted to the 
singer; those who had gone out came back to listen 
to the song, and long before he closed the silence 
was almost breathless, so charmed were all with the 
singer and song. When he ceased he called out, 
now, Mr. Chairman, you can make your announce- 
ment. He did so, and Shaw was at once the best 
known man at the convention. 

He was not devoid of humor, as the following 
incidents will show. At one of his morning meet- 
ings, he had for his subject ''The Shepherd and the 
Sheep.*' He said the most important thing in feed- 
ing sheep was to put something in the trough; that 
sheep would not come back more than twenty or 
thirty times when they did not get any thing to eat ; 
that the food, too, must be something that they 
would eat ; that they would not come back many 
times if they found nothing but shavings in the 
trough ; and that if the shepherd stood by and gave 
them a whack over the head with a club they would 
not be likely to come back very often. Now it hap- 
pened that very morning he had been quite impa- 
tient with some of the sisters at rehearsal about the 
singing, and had scolded them severely. He went to 
dinner with one of them, and while eating, she said: 



KNOWLES SHAW. • 93 

*' Brother Shaw, you don't practice what you 
preach ?" 

**Hovv so," said he. 

''Why," she replied, **you said you must not 
whack the sheep on the head with a club when they 
come up to be fed, and you scolded us so this morn- 
ing about the singing." 

'*Oh," said he, ''I was not feeding you then; I 
was teaching you to bleats and you have to whack 
the sheep to make them bleat'' 

While on his way to attend the State Meeting at 
Emporia, Kansas, his attention was called to a man 
in the same car, who was utterly disgusted with the 
West, and with Kansas in particular ; abusing the 
country and people in unmeasured terms; saying 
that the society was made up of the very scum of 
the Eastern States. Shaw bore it all for awhile, but 
at last, as if agreeing with him, said in a tone loud 
enough to attract attention : 

''Stranger, you have told the truth this time; I 
have traveled all over Kansas, and I find it peopled, 
as you say, with the very scum of Eastern society; 
but it is the kind of scu77i that rises on milky 

A shout of loud and long-continued laughter from 
all the passengers told that the arrow had reached 
its mark, and Kansas was vindicated. 



94 • LIFE OF 



CHAPTER VIIL 



Sketches of Several Sermons — **// is I; be not Afraid^^ — 
Pearl of Great Price — Deceitfulness of Sin — Smooth 
Things — Good Works — Triumphs of the Gospel. 

No one could expect that Brother Shaw could pro- 
duce sermons that would be models in point of taste 
and literary excellence. His lack of opportunity for 
self-improvement would forbid this. And yet there 
was a certain something about them that attracted 
attention, and produced results far beyond those 
growing out of sermons of closer thought and greater 
polish. 

There was in them much adapted to the popular 
mind; they were full of plain, striking illustrations; 
and descriptions at times dramatic, as if he saw what 
he described; and, above all, full to overflowing of 
Bible facts and incidents. 

On one occasion he took for his theme the words 
of Jesus to his disciples, **It is I; be not afraid/' 
As introductory, he gave in simple, yet striking lan- 
guage a description of the night scene on Galilee, 
w.hen the Master came walking over the troubled 



KNOWLES SHAW. 95 

sea to the aid of his toiling and weary followers. 
Their terror, his words of cheer, the stilling of the 
adverse wind, and the gladness of their hearts at 
the sudden and needed help, were well told, and the 
attention of his hearers enlisted by the story of a 
night on the deep. He then asked. Who is this, 
who says, *'It is I?" and answered as follows: 

'^His social position was a lowly one, shown by his 
birth in the stable at Bethlehem, his home at Nazareth, 
his humble occupation, his extreme poverty, his lack of 
education, and having as his chief associates the poor. 
Moreover, he was not recognized to any great extent by 
the rich, had no countenance from the civil authorities, no 
sanction from the prevailing religion, no men of note to 
aid him in his enterprise; his earthly career was short; he 
died young. Was he nothing but what he seemed to be? 
Look at his wisdom! Whence came it? His power! 
Whence derived? What think ye of Christ? Who is this 
Jesus? Ask the lily, the sparrow, the sea! Ask that out- 
stretched arm once palsied and withered ! Ask that widow's 
son, raised by his word ! Ask that judge, Pilate ! Ask 
Death ! Angels ! God ! Your own soul ! If man only, 
why not another like him ! Whose word so potent as his ? 
Eighteen hundred years since he said *Go,' and thousands 
now, in obedience to that command are going, to tell their 
fellows of his mercy and love. This Jesus gives us a com- 
mand, an exhortation to courage, ^Be not afraid.' Not 
afraid to beheve him, confess him, trust him, obey him. 
Be not afraid to do what he bids you — to live as h« 
requires. Courage is needed by all; by preachers, to 
declare all the counsel of God; by those who are not, to 
faithfully discharge duty. There is too much timidity; too 
many fearful and unbelieving; too many spiritual doll- 
babies. W^e need soldiers, fighting men, who won't run 
when the devil howls. We must not be afraid to be honest, 
to disgorge ill-gotten gain, not be afraid to be industrious; 



96 LIFE OF 

to lay worldliness aside, to bid pride be gone ! Not be 
afraid to work ; not be too fearful to hope ; not afraid to 
pray ; not afraid to die. '' 

*'One Pearl of Great Price'' was the theme of 
another discourse, treated in the following style : 

^^Our Savior's discourses were adorned with gems of 
the mine, pearls from the ocean, or the lilies of the field; 
to impress his hearers with the simplicity, beauty, gran- 
deur, and glory of his kingdom. All this preciousness of 
the gospel is derived from Christ, its author. The recep- 
tion of Christ is the reception of his kingdom. He who 
possesses Christ is the owner of the most priceless pearl. 
Christ stands alone^ superior to all earth's sovereigns. He 
is the *one Lord,' *one Mediator,' *one altogether lovely,' 
*the one Foundation,' 'the Way,' 'the Truth, 'the Life,' 
Uhe only name under heaven by which we can be saved.' 
Pearls are precious ; Peter calls faith precious. Think of 
the preciousness of Christ, upon whom that faith reposes. 
Precious to the sinner, as his only Savior ; precious to the 
Christian, as the only Mediator and High Priest; precious 
to the sick, as the only Physician; precious to the con- 
demned, he only can pardon ; precious to the dying, the 
only hope of eternal life. He will be precious to the 
saved, as the theme of ceaseless praise. This pearl has 
a price; it costs diligent search; 'Seek ye the Lord while 
he may be found ;' ' Seek first the kingdom of God and 
his righteousness.' There must be a desire; we only seek 
that which we desire. There must be earnestness, ' Strive 
to enter in at the strait gate' is only another form of 
expression for seeking this pearl. The directions how to 
seek Christ are given in the gospel. Seek him by faith, 
by repentance, by confession ; accept his offered grace in 
baptism. But there are those who have found where the 
pearl is, and will not buy, because it costs more than the 
mere seeking. After it was found, ' he sold all ' and pur- 
chased. This selling all is not pleasant. Some do not 
like to give up the gratification of appetite, the pleasures of 



KNOWLES SHAW. 9/ 

the world, their worldly companions, their sinful practices. 
But we must *sell out' before we can buy this pearl. 
The price is not gold or silver. We may get it by sacrifice, 
self-denial, obedience— our wills must yield to Christ's. 
Finding Christ, we have all we need ; teaching, pardon, 
peace, eternal life at last. Why, then, hoard up trash, 
when this goodly pearl may be yours ? What honor have 
they who have bought this pearl! Children of God! 
Heirs of heaven! -of joys that never end! Dear sin- 
ner, choose this priceless pearl ; make not the wretched 
choice of eternal poverty. Give up —give up all for 
Christ, and make the best bargain you ever have, or ever 
can make.'' 

On the " Deceitfulness of Sin," Hebrews iii. 13, 
he indulges in the following strain : 

^*Sin caused the fall of angels, ruined the world, 
robbed heaven, peopled hell. It deceives by giving false 
names to things; as spirit, to malice, passion, and revenge. 
It calls pride, true dignity; prodigality, generosity; and 
slander, merely openness of speech. Covetousness, is only 
i:)rudence and saving; while drunkenness and reveling, 
are sociality. Even gambling, is either business or specu- 
lation, and a whisky-shop a saloon or coffee-house. The 
sinner is deceived when he pleads ' natural desire ' as an 
excuse for evil-doing, or Svant of ability' for failing to do 
right; and equally so, when he claims ^others do so,' so 
may I. He is deceived when he makes good resolutions, 
only to break them, or brings up some good traits of char- 
acter as an offset to his sins ; deceived when he yields to 
temptation under the pledge to repent to-morrow, to do 
better by and by. Sin deceived the angels, who kept not 
their first estate; deceived our first parents, and will, if 
allowed, deceive us all. Sin hardens, as well as deceives. 
To God's threatenings against sin it says, ' God can't be 
so cruel.' It leads to rebellion against his right com- 
mands, to distrust of his promises; hardens against his 
providences ; prosperity, calls forth no gratitude, sickness, 



o8 • LIFE OF 

no humility. It hardens us against the strivings of the 
Spirit, till the Spirit is grieved, quenched - till we are lost. 
The remedy is to ' exhort one another.' This should be 
constant, * daily,' as we are daily in danger. We should 
ever look to Christ's teaching and example. Let us not 
deceive ourselves, ' If a man seem to be religious, and 
bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth^his own heart, this 
man's religion is vain.' (James i. 26.)" 

Compressed within the limits of half a sheet of 
paper, I find the following, which is lacking in 
neither arrangement nor force : 

*' Speak unto us smooth things." (Isaiah xxx. 10.) 

*at is unaccountable that intelligent beings ^ should 
become so infatuated as to prefer deceit to sincerity, 
falsehood to truth; and that, too, in reference to the most 
important of all subjects. 

^'^ I. What is it to speak smooth things ? 

''2, Why people desire it. 

^^3. Its final results to speaker and hearer. 

''a. Not to be confounded with speaking kindly or affec- 
tionately. I?, Nor a prudent presentation of truth, so as to 
avoid offense, c. Nor an appeal to candor and generosity, 
as Paul to Agrippa. 

^^To speak smooth things is not necessarily to teach 
error, nor yet to adulterate truth. Truth may be preached 
in such a way that it will* never save a soul ; but it is, to 
keep back everything disagreeable to the hearers. 

'* ist. It is to avoid a too searching process with the con- 
sciences of men. Not to offend the covetous by speaking 
against worldliness* Not to offend the pleasure-taker by 
showing its incompatibility with holy things. Not to offend 
the formalist by urging a spiritual religion. Not to offend 
the latitudinarian by declaring the woes threatened against 
those who preach another gospel. Not to mortify the 
pride of the liaugbty, nor assail the vanity of the osten- 
tatious bigot. Not to arouse the careless, nor alarm the 
indifferent Not to humble the spirit of the self-righteous, 



KNOWLES SHAW. 99 

nor denounce hypocrisy and intemperance, nor expose 
the heartlessness of the selfish. 

**2d. But it is to speak smooth things; to speak the 
truth in such a general way that none present will think 
that they are meant, or condemned by it. 

*^3d. By neglecting to enforce the threatenings of God's 
word, and dwelling only on the sunny side. 

**Balak wanted just such a prophet, to gratify his malev- 
olence. Ahab wanted such a prophet, after killing Naboth. 
Herod and his unlawful wife wanted such a preacher. 
The Jews would never have rejected Christ, if he had 
preached only what they wanted to hear, and Stephen 
might have escaped martyrdom had he spoken smooth 
things. Why do people desire such preaching? Because 
it suits a corrupt heart and life. Because it effects an 
agreeable compromise with a sort of religion and their 
sins. The results of such preaching are : It grieves the 
Spirit of God; is opposed to the conduct of God's peo- 
ple in all ages; condemns Moses for his course toward 
Pharaoh; Nathan for reproving David; condemns the 
course of John the Baptist to Herod ; Noah for warning a 
guilty world, and Paul for his faithful preaching to Felix. 
It brings ruin to the souls of preacher and people.'' 

He used great plainness of speech, of which the 
following, on ^^The Necessity of Good Works,'' is 
an example : 

** Nothing should deter the minister from declaring *the 
whole counsel of God.' Is ^The Righteousness of Christ' 
his theme ? Let him set it forth, abating nothing ; mod- 
ifying nothing, to suit the world. Let us tell the sinner 
what he must do to be saved ; tell it all. I do not believe 
God could have saved the world without Christ's death. 
Had there been any other way, God surely would have 
^ spared his Son.' God applies the exact amount of power 
to accomplish his object; no more. He wastes nothing; 
there is no superfluity. Let us, then, preach the death of 
Christ as a necessity; heaven, hell, sin, and righteousness, 



100 LIFE OF 

as the most solemn realities. If ' good works^ is Our theme, 
we should speak out plainly ; specifying the good for the 
encouragement of Christians, and reproving the evil with 
plainness ; fearing no one ; asking favors of no one, but 
/ cry aloud and spare not;' ^reprove, rebuke, exhort, with 
all long-suffering and doctrine/ Man is not wiser than 
God ; we can not improve the ' first principles ;' nor dare 
we swerve from the rest. It takes ' good works ' as well 
as good faith, good repentance, a good confession, a 
good baptism, to save man, here and hereafter. 

" Good works occupy an important place in the divine 
plan ; they are the evidences of our acceptance, and the 
proof of our love : * If ye love me, keep my command- 
ments.' They are not the atonement, yet they do please 
God, and they will receive a recompense in heaven. 

*^ There are many profitless works. There are many 
wicked works, which are injurious to both ourselves and 
our fellow men. There are works dishonoring to God ; 
but Paul says, ' Be careful to maintain good works,'' If 
we do these, 'we shall reap, if we faint not' No labor 
done for Christ will be unrewarded. The shame we have 
for him is honor. Every tear, a pearl in glory's crown. 
The poorer we become for Christ, the richer our eternal 
reward, and of all the saints in heaven they shall shine 
brightest, and sing loudest, and enter into the fullest 
joy, whose lives have most resembled his. He was un- 
selfish. He came, not to be ministered unto, but to min- 
ister. His whole life, his tears, his sorrows, his awful 
death, all verified his earliest saying, at twelve years old, 
*I must be about my Father's business,' and, because he 
obeyed, 'God hath highly exalted him, and given him a 
name that is above every name.' Hear the voice of the 
Spirit to John on Patmos, ' Write — Blessed are the dead 
that die in the Lord ; they rest from their labors, and their 
works do follow them.' With what feelings did Paul 
approach the place of execution and Stephen close his 
earthly career ? And may we not imagine Luther, Tyn- 
dale, Wesley, Campbell, or the founder of Sunday-schools 
looking back upon their work, or listening to angels telling 



KNOWLES SHAW. lOI 

of the millions blessed by their labors. These were brill- 
iant stars; but all may work for Christ. The mother 
who trains her child for God ; the widow who casts in 
her mite to aid in any good work — all who are trying to 
do good; to relieve distress, to help the helpless, to heal 
the wounded heart, to bring a soul to Jesus, to restore a 
backslider, are engaged in works which shall follow them 
through the vale of death, and they shall not fail of their 
reward. Even the cup of cold water, given in the name 
of a disciple, shall not be forgotten in the final day. Yes, 
good works will be remembered and mentioned at the last 
day. Then shall the King say unto them on his right 
hand, ' Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king- 
dom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 
for I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat : I was thirsty, 
and ye gave me drink : I was a stranger, and ye took me 
in : naked, and ye clothed me : I was sick, and ye visited 
me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.' The value 
of all our works will be determined by this simple test : 
^Will they follow us?' 'Will they go with us?' By our 
works we are to be judged, and rewarded according to 
them. Only what we can carry with us will be of real 
value to us — houses, lands, money, titles; of all these 
death strips us ; but ' blessed are they that do his com- 
mandments.' God writes our good works in a book; a 
book of remembrance is kept ; and though man may have 
forgotten, God never does. The ' faithful servant ' fears 
not death. Should the Christian fear to die ? Paul did 
not. No pilgrim was ever more anxious for home ; no 
laborer for rest; no tempest-tossed mariner for the harbor; 
no soldier even rhore anxious for his crown, than was he 
to depart and be with Christ. See him comforting his 
weeping friends as they gather round him for the last 
time ; one glimpse of Christ and heaven has taken all fear 
away. He speaks: I am ready — ready to be offered ; wel- 
come death; welcome the company of angels; welcome 
the heavenly Jerusalem. Death is swallowed up in vic- 
tory ; farewell. ' Be steadfast, and unmovable, always 
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye 
know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.'" 



102 LIFE OF 

On the '' Triumphs of the Gospel*' (2 Corin- 
tians ii. 14), he leaves the following thoughts: 

* ' ' Thanks be to God who always causeth us to triumph 
in Christ/ Evidently allusion here is made to the great 
triumphal entries of heroes into their own chief cities 
after achieving great victories. Paul had his triumphs 
too, and breaks forth in the language of the text Many 
say the gospel has done but little. Now, triumph implies 
conflict, and also a successful termination. By the preach- 
ing of the gospel a triumph was gained over Jewish preju- 
dice. They had a grand system, and loved, nay, they 
had an idolatrous veneration for it. Abraham was the 
father of their nation, Moses their great lawgiver and 
leader, Samuel and Isaiah their prophets, David and Sol- 
omon their kings, and they looked for the Messiah to 
reign in splendor over them. Thousands were conquered 
and became the humble disciples of Christ. The gospel 
triumphed over various forms of Paganism. The Gentile 
world had its systems of philosophy, venerable and an- 
cient, but over these the gospel triumphed. At Ephesus 
a great host were rescued from the false worship of Diana. 
In Athens, crowded with altars, the gospel gained a glo- 
rious victory. In Corinth, another great triumph. At 
Antioch, and even at Rome, the Church of Jesus Christ 
was founded by the complete triumph of the gospel; in 
all these places men were turned from dumb idols to serve 
the true God. What victories were these ! No wonder 
that Paul exulted, and broke out in the noble words, 
^ Thanks be unto God who always causeth us to triumph 
in Christ.* 

^*The gospel triumphed over the corruptions of man- 
kind, over vices horribly disgusting, and unblushingly 
practiced. If grand to triumph over the darkness of 
heathen idolatry and Jewish prejudice, it was certainly 
glorious to triumph over the corruptions of heart and life, 
as did the gospel over the vileness and impurity which 



KNOWLES SHAW. IO3 

everywhere prevailed. The gospel made men triumph 
over self and the world. Those who yielded to it, had to 
do more than change their religion or alter their creed. 
They had to put the law to defiance, expose themselves to 
persecutions, confiscations, imprisonment, death. They 
had to forsake all for Christ. Yet all these trials did not 
hinder the triumphs of the cross. Contrast these triumphs 
with the victories of earth's greatest warriors — the cruel 
ambitious heroes with the humble apostles. Pride, lust, 
cruelty on one side; meekness, virtue, and good-will to 
man on the other. The warrior can be traced in his work 
of woe by footsteps of blood, the groans of the wounded, 
and the graves of the slain ; by the desolation of the 
country, the sacked cities, and burning dwellings, by 
frenzied widows and wailing orphans, and the field of 
battle over which the vulture hovers or the wild beast 
seeks his prey. 

' ' The triumphs of the gospel are succeeded by the sun- 
shine of peace ; men are elevated, sanctified, and the 
blessings of heaven are brought to earth. The gospel 
now triumphs at home and abroad, wherever it is preached 
and lived faithfully. To these triumphs you owe your 
respectability and position in life, and woman is indebted 
to the gospel for her position as man's equal. To extend 
these victories should be the prayer and labor of all. 

' ' Sinner, let this gospel shine into your heart to-day, 
enlist and help to gain these victories, and share in the 
reunion on the other shore." 

The above sketches are but very faint and meager 
outlines of some of Brother Shaw's sermons, and 
yet there is enough in them to correct an opinion 
which prevails among many who have never had 
the opportunity of hearing him. There is nothing 
in them to warrant the idea that he was light, super- 
ficial and sensational ; that his sermons were chaffy, 



I04 LIFE OF 

with far more human incident tnan gospel truth 
than which no judgment could be more unjust. 
Most of the subjects we have noticed are treated 
in a clear, impressive, and scriptural manner ; nearly- 
all the illustrations being drawn from the Book of 
God ; and the impression made is that he was famil- 
iar at least with one Book, and that the best of all 
books for him who would teach his fellow-man the 
way of life and salvation. Of course the brief notes 
given do not do him justice, as they are the merest 
skeletons, which he not only clothed with flesh, but 
to which, by his treatment, he imparted the breath 
of Hfe. 

They show the material with which he builded, 
but not the mansion he reared with them ; but the 
colors of the artist, and the marble before it has been 
carved by the sculptor's hand, would come as far 
short of the finished picture and statue, as do these 
imperfect notes, of the finished sermon delivered 
under the inspiration of a warm heart and a crowd 
of interested hearers. They are but the seeds, of 
which the sermons growing out of them were the 
ripened fruit. Indeed, I feel there is nothing in the 
book that will give the reader a better idea of the 
working of his mind, and his mode of thinking, than 
these notes, brief and imperfect though they be. 



KNOWLES SHAW. 10$ 



CHAPTER IX. 



Domestic Life — Death of His Daughter — Her Dying Words — 
His Dream — Musical Talent — Musical Publications — Esti- 
mate of His Musical Powers — ''Bringing in the Sheaves J^ 

Little has been said of Brother Shaw's private 
and domestic Hfe. The reason of this is obvious ; 
he belonged to the pubHc ; he Hved not for himself, 
but for others. He was a devoted husband and a 
fond father, and yet so numerous and pressing were 
the calls for his services that he was almost constantly 
away from home. The short intervals between his 
meetings, which he was permitted to spend with his 
family, were highly enjoyed and greatly prized; and 
one of the greatest trials of his life was that of 
absence from those he loved. 

He was the father of five children : Georgie Anna, 
born in Rush County, Indiana, January 3, 1856; 
Mary Elizabeth, born in Rush County, Indiana, 
October 31, 1858 ; John Albin, born in Rush County, 
Indiana, February 18, 1862; Carey W., born at 
Edinburgh, Indiana, February 26, 1864; and Knowles 
Shaw, jr., born at Lebanon, Ohio, February 14, 1869. 
The last two died in early infancy; the former on 



I06 LIFE OF 

the 25th of July, 1865; the latter on the 13th of 
August, 1869; both at Lebanon, Ohio. His eldest 
daughter, Georgie Anna, when nearly fourteen years 
of age, was taken dangerously ill, while her father 
was engaged in a very interesting and successful 
meeting at Wellsburgh, West Virginia. Her con- 
dition became alarming, and her father was sum- 
moned home ; and a few days after his return, she 
calmly closed her eyes in hope and trust, on the 
29th of December, 1869; to open them, doubtless, 
in the presence of Him to whom she had given her 
heart in holy obedience. 

Bitter as was this trial to the father's heart, the 
meekness and trust of the young sufferer did much 
to mitigate his grief. But a short time before she 
breathed her last, while on the very borders of the 
deathless land, she exclaimed, **Look, dear father, 
see the angels,'' and, who can doubt, soon joined 
that company. Brother L. F. Bittle composed the 
following touching verses upon these her dying 
words, and we feel that no apology is needed for 
giving them to the reader : 

*<Look, dear father, see the angels, 
As around me now they glide ! 
They have come, I know, to guide me 

Thro' the Jordan's rolling tide: 
See you not their golden tresses, 

And their trailing robes of snow ? 
Hear you not their rustling pinions, 
And their voices sweet and low ? 
Chorus, 



'US, 

**0h, the angels! blessed angels! 
Lovely as the morning star ! 



KNOWLES SHAW. 10/ 

They have come, I know, to lead me 
To the land that lies afar. 

**I can see them bending o'er me, 

Feel them touch my pallid brow, 
As the border land I enter, 

And at Jordan's brink I bow. 
Soon they'll lead me to my Savior, 

Soon I'll clasp his loving hand ; 
Then, from every care and sorrow, 

Safe I'll rest in Canaan's land. 

**Fare you well, dear father, mother! 

When I reach the sinless shore, 
I will watch beside the river, 

Till the angels bring you o'er : 
I will be the first to greet you, 

When you touch the blooming strand; 
I will be the first to welcome, 

When you gain the heavenly land." 

Two of his children died in the same year; all 
three within about four years. These bereavements 
did much in drawing his thoughts upward to the 
dwelling-place of his dear ones, and many of his 
songs owe much of their tenderness and pathos to 
the fact that his children had become dwellers in 
that land of whose glories he loved to sing. No one 
now can read his ** Lambs of the Upper Fold/' or 
*'My Beautiful Dream," without feeling that his 
own dear ones, safely folded in the arms of the Good 
Shepherd, gave the key-note to these songs. Several 
years after he had laid away in the grave these dear 
household treasures, while absent from home, hold- 
ing a meeting in Louisiana, Missouri, he had a dream 
one night which made a deep impression upon him. 
He wrote it down the next morning. It was as 
follows : 



I08 LIFE OF 

"I dreamed that I slept the long night of the tomb, 

Then awoke from its slumber, arose from its gloom ; 

That I wandered o'er fields in ecstatic delight, 

In regions of bliss where there cometh no night. 

By rivers of waters, so bright and so clear, 

Enchanted by music which fell on my ear ; 

'Mid breezes that wafted its melody long. 

While angels were singing their heavenly song : 

Where flowers w^ere blooming that never shall die, 

Whose perfume was wafted by breezes on high. 

That land was so lovely: no sickness was there; 

No tears, no temptations, no sorrow, no care ; 

No parting, no dying, no mourning was heard ; 

No murmurs, complaining; there never a word 

That could mar the enjoyments of that happy land, 

Where dwelt in their beauty God's purified band. 

There we met on that shore, my dear loving wife ; 

Yes, we met in that realm all so buoyant with life : 

Thy cheeks were not faded, thine eyes were not dim : 

There we joined in the worship and praises of Him 

Who guarded our pathway while journeying below, 

To crown us with blessings, all good to bestow ; 

There songs with the ransomed thy voice joined to sing, 

As all shouted praises to Jesus our King. 

We wandered o'er pavements of purest of gold. 

By walls of rich jasper, of beauty untold ; 

And the gates of the city were loveliest pearl. 

Where war's bloody banner could never unfurl. 

We talked of our journey, our joys and our woes, 

As we sat where the great tree of life ever grows ; 

And there gathered around us our babes gone before, 

And we fondly caressed them as in days of yore. 

No partings were mentioned, no sorrows, no tears, 

Through all the long, happy, unnumbered sweet years. 

Our pilgrimage ended, at home with the blest. 

For all our toils here, an eternal sweet rest. 

After life's stormy voyage, a haven of peace. 

After all our hard battles, a happy release ; 

After tears and temptations, a world of delight, 

After life's bitter crosses, a crown sparkling bright. 

With our children around us, though parted so long, 

All singing sweet anthems of glory and song — 

The sorrows of earth all over and past, 

And heaven we longed for was welcomed at last. 
* * iij * * 

Oh, dearest, if such be the joy of a dream, 
That only can teach us of things as they seem. 



I 



KNOWLES SHAW. IO9 

What must the reality be to our souls, 

As the age of bright glory eternally rolls. '^ 

This seems the most appropriate place to say- 
something with regard to his musical powers, which 
on all hands are admitted to have been wonderful. 
No description can do him anything like justice in 
this respect. A power that moved multitudes, as 
the ocean is moved when storm-swept, and soothed 
hearts when agitated into deep tranquillity, must be 
experienced in order to be understood ; the pen is 
as powerless to set forth the power of his song as it 
would be to bring before the reader the varied play 
of his features, the passing shade of sadness, or the 
light of his smile. 

He was as a singer, beyond all doubt, fully the 
peer of Sankey and Bliss. By many who have heard 
them, he was deemed superior in some respects to 
both. Neither ever stirred hearts more deeply than 
he ; and we judge that the true test of the singer is to 
be found in the ability to move and melt the heart. 
Pages might be written with regard to his power 
over individuals and large assemblies by his singing. 
A single instance must suffice. 

During his last meeting at Dallas, Texas, Elder 
Caskey, a man of great power and a natural orator, 
made Shaw his study, and hence, though not in a 
censorious, was in a critical mood ; a state of mind 
not favorable to deep feeling or emotion. He came 
in to one of Shaw's morning meetings, and found 
him at the organ singing a song. He took a seat 



no LIFE OF 

behind the singer, who was not aware of his pres- 
ence, and soon after Shaw sang the ''Old Man's 
Dream." Before he was half done, Caskey was weep- 
ing. The next morning Caskey was present again, 
and Shaw asked him to come and sit in front of him. 

*'No, " said Caskey, '*you shall not make me cry 
again ; you opened a fountain yesterday that has 
been closed for twenty years. I stood over the grave 
of my boy once more, and saw again the wife of my 
youth, and you awakened memories that I thought 
were put away forever, and made me shed tears, a 
thing I have not done for twenty years before/' 

Reporters for the press, in the various cities in 
which he labored, all agreed in representing his sing- 
ing as something beyond what they had ever heard 
before — entire audiences, filling the largest public 
halls, often being melted into tears. He was a per- 
fect master of the organ. His hearers would often 
say, ''He made it talk.'' He played with perfect 
abandon, bringing down his hands often upon the 
keys without looking at them ; but there was always 
perfect harmony. He began to compose music soon 
after he began to preach ; and though not entitled to 
rank in that respect with Bradbury and Bliss, yet 
there are quite a number of his compositions that 
would be no discredit to those great masters of 
sacred song. His first song was ''The Shining 
Ones," which is still popular. He published at dif- 
ferent times five Sunday-school singing books : ist. 
'' Shining Pearls." 2d. " Golden Gate." 3d. " Spark- 



KNOWLES SHAW. Ill 

ling Jewels. '* 4th. ^*The Gospel Trumpet.'' 5th. 
'^The Morning Star.'' These all met with a favor- 
able reception — the last still meeting with a large 
sale. 

J. H. Fillmore, whose opinion in -musical matters 
is of deserved weight, says of Shaw : *' He seemed 
to have an intuition as to the emotional properties of 
musical sounds, that enabled him to weave them 
together into beautiful and telling melodies. His 
enthusiasm in all he undertook commended it and 
impressed it upon the people. With the masses, as 
a singer, he was a favorite ; and good natural abili- 
ties, poetical and musical, with enthusiasm, tell the 
whole story of his success." One of his later pieces, 
'* Bringing in the Sheaves," was dedicated to the 
memory of A. D. Fillmore, and has proved to be 
the most popular of his songs, and gives promise of 
living for many years to come. It was peculiarly 
appropriate to the memory of the sweet singer and 
earnest preacher of the gospel to whose name and 
memory he linked it, and has even a deeper signifi- 
cance with regard to himself. We give it below: 

** Sowing in the morning, 

Sowing seeds of kindness; 
Sowing in the noontide, 

And the dewy eves : 
Waiting for the harvest, 

And the time of reaping, 
We shall come rejoicing, 
Bringing in the sheaves. 
Chorus, 

** Bringing in the golden sheaves, 
Bringing in the golden sheaves. 



112 LIFE OF 

Waiting for the harvest, 

And the time of reaping, 
We shall come rejoicing, 

Bringing in the sheaves. 

** Sowing in the simshine. 

Sowing in the shadows; 
Fearing neither clouds nor 

Winter's chilling breeze; 
By and by the harvest, 

And the labors ended, 
We shall come rejoicing, 

Bringing in the sheaves. 

**Go, then, even weeping. 

Sowing for the Master, 
'Tho' the loss sustained 

Our spirit often grieves ; 
When our weeping's over, 

He will bid us welcome, 
We shall come rejoicing, 

Bringing in the sheaves." 

By such strains as the above he sang himself into 
the hearts of thousands, and in years to come the 
eyes of many will be dimmed with the mist of tears 
as they think of the sad fate of him whose songs 
they still sing. 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 13 



CHAPTER X. 



Moody and SJiaw Compared and Contrasted— Extracts from 
the Sermons of Both — Moody s Ticket and Shaw's, 

A CERTAIN resemblance between Brother Shaw and 
the Evangehst Moody has doubtless been observed 
by many, and in ability to arrest and hold the atten- 
tion of multitudes there was no doubt a marked 
similarity. At the same time, however, in respect 
to their teachings, there was a far more distinct and 
marked difference. Moody, although a Calvinist of 
the most pronounced New England type, always 
brought into prominence the more popular theories 
of the various religious parties, and kept out of sight 
the conflicting elements of the different systems. 
While sufficiently Calvinistic to reach those who had 
been brought up under such teaching, he did not 
carry it so far as to insist on the doctrine of partic- 
ular redemption, or he never could have reached the 
masses, as he has done ; and which must be attrib- 
uted to his making the impression that the benefits 
of the death of Christ might be enjoyed, as they were 
freely offered, to all. This, of course, pleased those 
8 



114 LIFE OF 

who accepted the doctrine of a general atonement; 
but it was always modified by the thought that, in 
order to accept the atonement, it was necessary to 
be made the subject of a special influence of the 
Holy Spirit; in this way, in effect, inserting the Cal- 
vinistic element into the Arminian view of the atone- 
ment, as in the former case he had inserted into 
the Calvinistic view of. the atonement the Arminian 
element. 

Carried out to its logical issue, the above method 
virtually denies human responsibility, by making the 
act of the sinner in accepting Christ to depend upon 
a mental and moral condition to be produced by an 
irresistible influence of the Holy Spirit. This was 
made manifest by one of his hearers, who, when 
asked by Moody why he had not become a Chris- 
tian, replied in strict accordance with the teaching 
he had heard, ^ **It has not struck me yet." It was 
not by a rational, intelligent conviction, but by a 
miraculous and irresistible power, that he supposed 
the change would be effected. Indeed Mr. Moody's 
own words are decisive upon this point. He sa>s: 

'^Let us go out and bring all our friends here, and if 
there is poor preaching we can bring down from heaven 
the necessary blessings without good preaching. In Phil- 
adelphia a skeptic came in, just out of curiosity. He 
wanted to see the crowd, and he hadn't more than crossed 
the threshold of the door before the Spirit of God met 
him ; and I asked him if there was anything in the sermon 
that influenced him, in hopes that I was going to get some- 
thing to encourage me ; but he could not tell what the text 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 15 

was. I asked him if it were the singing? but he didn't 
know what Mr. Sankey had sung. It was the power of 
God alone that converted him ; and that is what we want 
in these meetings. If we have this power, when we invite 
our friends here the Lord will meet them, and will answer 
our prayers and save them.'' 

A critic quite friendly to Mr. Moody says of him 
that *^he dwells on what Christ has done in words 
which imply that absolutely nothing is left for man 
to do. In one of his addresses we find this sentence, 
in a paragraph whose whole tenor is to the same 
effect, and without qualification: *'The idea that a 
man can work his way up to heaven is damnable." 

Mr. Moody is so absorbed in one statement of the 
apostles, *'It is God that worketh in you," that he 
sometimes forgets the other clause of the same sen- 
tence, ''Work out your own salvation'' He insists, 
again and again, that absolutely no condition is 
annexed to God's offer of free pardon. There is no 
intimation that it is necessary to renounce and for- 
sake sin. In one of his addresses he used the follow- 
ing language: **I imagine some of you will say, *I 
haven't anything to do.' Well, you haven't. Sal- 
vation has been worked out for you by another.*' 
This without a word of qualification or reserve, and 
insisted on over, and over again. Apparently in Mr. 
Moody's view, Christ's sacrificial death has not only 
taken the place of the sinner's punishment ; it has 
saved him from all necessity for exertion. Of the 
New Testament exhortation, ''Repent diud believe," 



Il6 LIFE OF 

Mr. Moody seems to recognize only the last half. 
From Genesis to Revelation he finds but one truth, 
free pardon through a substitutional atonement, with 
endless bliss or woe depending upon its acceptance 
by a single act of faith.'' 

Shaw perhaps never preached a discourse with- 
out bringing prominently forward the thought of 
human responsibility. One of his sermons is headed, 
''Hear, Believe, Do!'* And while he always set 
forth what God, and Christ, and the Holy Spirit had 
to do in the work of human salvation, he never failed 
to show that something was needful on the part of 
man in order to its enjoyment, and that, not an 
acceptance by faith only of the offered grace, but 
a faith evinced by true repentance, and a yielding 
to, and walking in all the commandments of God. 

Moody said to his hearers: *' You can make your- 
selves Christians just about as easy as a black man 
can ivash himself white." 

Shaw said to his : *^ ' Come, for all things are now 
ready. ' The Father is ready ; the Son is ready ; the 
Spirit is ready; ministers ready; angels ready; church 
ready ; ordinances ready. ' Christ is the author of an 
eternal salvation to all them that obey him.' Sinner, 
are you ready? When all things are ready, why not 
come?" And again: **It is only in obedience to 
the divine law that man can reap the benefits result- 
ing from the life of love, and death sacrifice of Christ. 
Indeed, no man can justly claim to be reconciled to 
God who is not willing to yield his will and hfe to 



KNOWLES SHAW. 11/ 

God ; for the evidence of reconciliation is subjection 
to the law of God." 

Moody also made the great mistake of system- 
atically avoiding any mention of the ordinance of 
baptism, except to reason it away, and show its 
entire uselessness in the plan of salvation. In his 
plan it had no place, no use. He seemed to have 
forgotten that baptism was one of the conditions of 
salvation as set forth in the great commission, under 
which he claimed to preach ; that it was everywhere 
enjoined by the apostles and primitive preachers, 
and that in their days an unbaptized convert was 
unknown. With them the command to be baptized 
was as universal as the commands to believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ and to repent. Mr. Moody 
entirely ignored it, and in this respect v/as like a 
recruiting officer who omits one of the terms of 
enlistment, a physician who omits one of the essen- 
tial elements of a prescription, and on the same 
principle that leads him to ignore baptism would 
deny the necessity of a ceremony to marriage, a seal 
to a covenant, an official name to a pardon. 

His method was to soften down the harsher ele- 
ments of the creed under which he had been reared; 
and it must be added that he also suppressed cer- 
tain plain teachings of the Scriptures ; that he failed 
utterly to ** declare all the counsel of God." 

In this respect, Shaw presented a striking contrast 
to the earnest, gifted, yet erring Moody. While 
insisting as earnestly as he on the necessity of faith, 



Il8 LIFE OF 

he also insisted on repentance toward God, and on 
the necessity of giving evidence of unfeigned faith, 
and sincere repentance by obedience to the clearly 
expressed will of the Master, and the uniform teach- 
ing of the apostles in regard to baptism. He taught 
all that Moody did in regard to faith in the Lord 
Jesus; and all that Moody omitted, and the Scrip- 
tures taught with regard to the ordinance, which is 
very generally regarded as the seal of the covenant 
between the returning sinner and the Savior, who 
accepts his submission, and freely pardons. 

Moody came before his hearers claiming to be the 
bearer of a message from Christ to them, but kept 
back a part of that message, nay, claimed that a por- 
tion of the message was useless. Shaw came before 
his hearers with the same claim, and declared the 
entire message of him for whom he spake. To be 
convinced of this, the reader has only to consult the 
Acts of Apostles, and see whether the inspired 
preachers found in Moody, or Shaw the most faith- 
ful imitator. To anxious, inquiring sinners, Moody 
never gave the same answer that was given to the 
same class by the apostles. Shaw never gave any 
other answer than that given by the apostles. 
Moody, unlike the apostles, never baptized his con- 
verts. Shaw, like the apostles, did invariably bap- 
tize his. The very language of the Acts of Apostles 
could be used without violence in regard to the 
results of Shaw's labors: the people ''hearing be- 
lieved, and were baptized." In no instance was this 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 19 

true of the results of the preaching of the other. 
In a word, Moody was a modern evangeHst, using 
modern methods and expedients, but Shaw was an 
evangeHst of the ancient type, telHng to men in 
modern times the old, old story, as it was told by 
Peter on Pentecost, or by Paul to the Philippian 
jailer. 

The difference between them did not consist in 
Moody giving the greater prominence to faith, which 
really was the most prominent feature of his preach- 
ing, and Shaw giving the greater prominence to 
baptism, which really was not the case. He insisted 
quite as strongly as did Moody on the absolute 
necessity of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ; taught 
that ** without faith it is impossible to please God;'* 
made it in fact an indispensable element in the sal- 
vation of the sinner; and, in addition to this, taught 
the indispensable necessity of repentance, making it 
even more prominent than Moody did, insisting that 
**God hath commanded all men everywhere to 
repent,'' following it up by the solemn reason that 
"He hath appointed a day in which he will judge 
the world in righteousness;" thus giving the very 
strongest motive to men to turn from their sins. In 
addition to this, he invariably taught that every pen- 
itent believer should **be baptized in the name of 
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins ;" adding thus 
to the teachings of Moody an act of obedience by 
which faith and repentance were manifested ; an act 
in which the names of the Father, Son, and Spirit, 



I20 LIFE OF 

meet; an act in which allegiance to Satan is re- 
nounced, and allegiance to Christ pledged ; an act 
in which submission is manifested by the sinner, and 
acceptance by the Savior ; for in that solemn act the 
sinner is said to be buried with Christ and to put on 
Christ. 

With Moody, this act had neither place nor sig- 
nificance in the Christian scheme. With Shaw, it 
was as much a part of the gospel plan, and enjoined 
with as much authority, as faith, repentance, or any 
other element of that plan, and as clearly one of the 
conditions of pardon as faith in the Lord Jesus 
Christ itself. He did not, however, attribute to it 
a cleansing, saving power. No one could be further 
from believing that water, or anything short of the 
blood of Christ, could cleanse the soul from sin, than 
he; and yet he did believe and teach that pardon 
was promised and bestowed on the penitent* believer, 
when he sought it in this act of obedience, and in 
accordance with the teaching of the word of God. 
If Moody was disposed to regard baptism as use- 
less, or at best one of the least commandments, 
Shaw did not so discriminate. It was enough for 
him to know that it was a divine command ; nor did 
he forget that those who should break even the least 
of the commandments, and teach others to do so, 
should be esteemed least in the kingdom of heaven. 
Anything bearing the seal of divine authbrity was 
sacred to him. Moody said, on more than one occa- 
sion : *'If baptizing a man would save him, I would 



KNOWLES SHAW. 121 

do nothing else but baptize. Every man and woman 
I meet on the street I would persuade to be baptized. 
I would not wait for anything ; I'd even baptize them 
while they were asleep, for fear that they might die 
before I got a chance at them." 

Contrast with this the following from Shaw» on the 
same subject, as given by a reporter who attended 
one of his meetings : 

'*We never heard the New Testament figure of Christ, 
the bridegroom, applied with greater power. He said 
when a young couple contracted to be married, and pos- 
sessed the heart and the will for the change, all that was 
needed of course was the marriage ceremony to induct 
them into this new state or relationship to each other. 
That done, they are legally man and wife. They felt before 
precisely as they do now, only the formula of the law was 
wanting to permit the woman taking his name, and allow- 
ing him to claim her as his wife. So with becoming a 
Christian. With faith in the testimony presented comes 
repentance, and this produces a resolution to turn away 
from the past Hfe, The change of heart is succeeded by 
the third step ; that is, baptism into the na7ne of the Father, 
the Son, and Holy Ghost. The act of baptism does not 
change the convert's heart — faith in the truths of the gos- 
pel did that before. It only indicates his altered con- 
dition ; it is a seal to show that he has left the world and 
gone upon the Lord's side. Then he takes Christ's name, 
just as the wife takes the name of her husband when the 
nuptial pledge has been given. As the wife would have 
no authority under human law to assume the name of the 
husband before the marriage ceremony, so. according to 
the New Testament, no convert can claim the name of 
Christian without the final act of baptism, the line dividing 
the kingdom of the Devil from the kingdom of God." 

Moody seemed to regard the first item in the great 



122 LIFE OF 

commission, **He that believeth, " so important as 
to render the rest of no value whatever; just as a 
man might unwisely do, who, seeing the importance 
of a mainspring in a watch, should so far overrate it 
as to regard everything else as useless ; while Shaw 
was like a wiser man, who realized that even the 
mainspring was useless, unless all- the other parts 
were in harmonious relation to it; that the absence 
of any part, wheel, hand, or dial, would destroy the 
unity and usefulness of the whole. Shaw declared 
the whole counsel of God. If it seem harsh, it is 
nevertheless true that Moody did not. 

Moody's work did not contemplate the planting 
and training of churches. When he brought a man 
up to the point of saying, ''I am for Christ," his 
work was done. No formal confession of faith in 
Christ was demanded ; no union with the church 
insisted upon. His work was as imperfect as would 
be that of the recruiting officer who would get men 
up to the point of willingness to enlist, and yet 
neither tell them how they from citizens became 
soldiers ; nothing of being mustered in, of the uni- 
form, of the armor, of the drill. When the same 
point was reached by Shaw it was regarded as but 
the initial step to a great life-work ; it was the 
entrance upon a pilgrimage that would end but with 
life ; a race where the crown was at the end ; a war- 
fare in which there was no rest until the last battle 
was fought and the victory won. 

Hence, while he labored earnestly to win men to 



KNOWLES SHAW. 123 

the service of Christ, he strove, with equal earnest- 
ness, to induce all such -to put on the whole armor, 
to fight the good fight, to press forward, to lay aside 
every weight and the easily besetting sin, to run with 
patience, to be steadfast, immovable, always abound- 
ing in the work of the Lord, assuring them that 
their labor in the Lord would not be in vain. 

The result has been that his work lives though he 
be dead, and gives promise of being a permanent 
one. The interest excited by Moody's visits, in 
many places, instead of developing into permanent 
good and steady growth, has been followed by a 
revulsion, anything but favorable to the cause of 
religion — a meteor's light, followed by intense dark- 
ness. 

Under the labors of Shaw, weak churches have 
been strengthened, unnumbered hearts comforted ; 
none left asking in vain, '^Lord, what wilt thou have 
me to do?" New churches have been formed, which 
have grown up into strength and usefulness, and, if 
his works lack the meteor's splendors, they have the 
steady and serene light of the stars. 

In zeal, energy, earnestness, in ceaseless, tireless 
work, there was a resemblance between the two men 
which few could fail to observ^e and admire ; but, as 
we have shown, in their methods they could scarcely 
have differed more widely. Let us close the con- 
trast with two cases. 

Moody said: **When you go to the station and 
take a ticket for London, and seat yourself in the 



124 LIFE OF 

train, the guard will come and look at your ticket. 
He looks at that, not you. The blood is God's 
ticket. God says have you got your ticket, or 
token? If you are behind the blood you are as safe 
as on the golden pavement of heaven. Wake up, 
for you'll never get to heaven unless you are floated 
thither on the crimson tide of Christ's precious 
blood." 

Shaw said: **Time is short, and we have only 
one trip through the world, and no coming back to 
rectify mistakes, or make up lost opportunities; 
therefore do not wait to pack your trunk until the 
whistle blows. Have your trunk packed and a 
through ticket all ready before train time. Genuine 
tickets are stamped, * He that believeth, and is bap- 
tized, shall be saved.' " 

Moody's ticket fixes the attention on what Christ 
has done to save man, but does not show how the 
benefits of that death may be appropriated and 
enjoyed by the sinner, and is calculated to make the 
impression that Christ's death paid the debt, and 
thus set the guilty free. Shaw's ticket fixes the 
attention on what is necessary to be done by the 
sinner in order to avail himself of the benefits of 
Christ's death ; shows that obedience is as necessary 
on the part of the sinner as dying on the part of the 
Savior; shows that Christ is **the author of an eter- 
nal salvation" (not to all men in virtue of his death), 
but '*to all them that obey him." Moody taught 
that salvation was wrought out by Christ. Shaw, 



KNOWLES SHAW. 125 

that while Christ died to save man, he must **work 
out his own salvation with fear and trembling/' 
Moody makes everything to depend on the phy- 
sician. Shaw makes the sin-sick man show his trust 
in the physician by taking the remedy. Moody, sep- 
arates faith and works. Shaw insists on their going 
together. Moody did not, and could not express 
his views in the words of Scripture. Shaw could 
and did express his, in the very words of Christ 
himself. Moody, as far as we can learn, never bap- 
tized a single convert. Shaw baptized many thou- 
sands of those who heard the gospel from his lips, 
and were persuaded to turn from their sins to God. 
Which of them followed the teaching of Christ, and 
the example of the apostles? 



126 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XL 



Need of Mental Photograph — A Specimen Sermon — How 
Readest Thou 1~ What Lack I Yet? 

When a loved one dies, we often regret having 
failed to secure a picture of such an one while living; 
but the actual presence made us forget that the time 
would come when the shadow would become so dear. 
And so it is with regard to the addresses or sermons 
of those to whom in life we loved to listen. While 
those who give them utterance are with us, we do 
not think of preserving what they say, and yet what 
a value one of their sermons would possess when 
they are no longer here. Elsewhere, we have pre- 
sented brief, but very imperfect, sketches of some 
of Brother Shaw's sermons, and we feel what a treas- 
ure it would be to have one so fully reported as to 
give us an idea of his treatment of his theme. He 
has not left such a report, nor did his friends secure 
one while such a thing was possible ; fragments or 
brief sketches are numerous, but the full and com- 
plete treatment of any one of his subjects we have 



KNOWLES SHAW. 127 

been unable to find. Such a report would be valu- 
able now, not because of its intrinsic worth, but 
because it was his, and would serve to bring him up 
to memory as he really was. 

The nearest approach to anything of this kind is 
in the notes of a sermon on the words, ^*How 
readest thou?" (Luke x. 26), which we give: 

''The circumstances which gave rise to the words of 
the text are these : A lawyer stood up and tempted Christ, 
saying, ' Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ?' 
Chrisf s reply was, ' What is written in the law ? How 
readest thou ?' He is made to answer his own question 
by a quotation from the law, and is obliged to ask the 
further question, ' Who is my neighbor ?' Which Christ 
answers by the story of the Good Samaritan, and makes 
the questioner again answer his own question. 

''I desire to call your attention to Christ's question in 
three respects : 

''ist. 'How readest thouV as a personal matter. 2d. 
' How readest thou ?' 3d. ' How readest thou ?' 

*'The question I ask is over eighteen hundred years 
old. It was asked by Christ himself, hence important. I 
repeat it as coming from Christ, and press it home as a 
matter of life and death, a matter of temporal and eternal 
moment. 

" ist. "Do you read the word of God at all? I ask 
this question, because there is no knowledge absolutely 
essential to man's salvation except a knowledge of things 
found in the Bible. 

"We live in an age when the words of the prophet 
Daniel are fulfilled: 'Many shall run to and fro, and 



128 LIFE OF 

knowledge shall increase.' Schools are abundant and 
good. Colleges and Universities of the highest type are 
numerous. We have books without number. More is 
being written, taught, and learned now than ever before 
in any age of the world ; and yet all the education a man 
can get into his head could not save his soul, unless he 
knows and obeys the truths of the Bible. A man may be 
able to master half the languages of the world; he may 
have read books till he is a walking encyclopaedia ; he may 
be acquainted w^ith the stars of heaven, the birds of the 
air, the fish of the sea, the cedars of Lebanon; yea, he 
may be able to discourse upon the great secrets of earth, 
air, fire, and water, and still be lost for remaining igno- 
rant of the Bible. Chemistry never silenced a guilty con- 
science, mathematics never healed a broken heart, phi- 
losophy can not give hope in death, natural theology gives 
no hope of a resurrection. All these are good and useful 
for earth and time, but they never did and never can 
raise man above earth's level. So a man may be igno- 
rant in those things, and yet by the knowledge of that one 
Book — of one science — reach a home in heaven with God. 
We can get to heaven without money, health, learning, or 
friends, but not without the Bible. 

**Then I ask again, ^ Ho%v readjst thouV Because it 
is the book of inspiration, so unlike and superior to all 
others. God taught the writers what to say. When we 
read this Book we read God's will. This Book wag 
written by about fifty different persons, of every rank and 
class of society, among them a lawgiver, a warrior king, 
a peaceful king, a herdsman, a pharisee, a publican, and 
a poor fisherman. It was written at different times, run- 
ning over a space of at least fifteen hundred years. The 



KNOWLES SHAW. I2g 

greater part of these writers never saw each other face to 
face, and yet there is perfect harmony and agreement. 
They all tell the same story of man the sinner, God's 
love, Christ's condescension and sacrifice, and the sub- 
lime plan of redemption — unfolding all man's duty and 
destiny. Certainly this could not be the work of chance ! 
The Bible has been criticised, abused, burned, and blas- 
phemed for nearly two thousand years — the busiest years 
of earth's history — and yet it stands, as it was given, 
unchanged and unimproved. The mightiest discoveries 
have been made, sciences have improved, customs have 
altered, great numbers of things once deemed useful have 
become obsolete, scarcely a thing but faults have been 
found with it, weak points discovered; but all this time 
the Bible has stood untouched, unchanged, perfect, be- 
cause its Author is perfect. The march of intellect never 
overtakes it. Science develops nothing to contradict it. 
It meets now, as it ever has done, the wants of all ages, 
ranks, climates, minds, and conditions. It was ' written 
for our learning.' The subjects treated in the Bible are of 
the most important nature. It handles theories beyond 
the reach of man if left to himself — the soul, the world 
to come, eternity. How little did the wisest of the hea- 
then know? How dim the views of Solon, Socrates, 
Aristotle, Plato, Seneca, and Cicero? A Sunday-school 
child twelve years old knows more of eternal truth than 
all these. 

^'The Bible tells of the beginning of the globe on which 
we live ; the origin of all things. It gives the only worthy 
account of man's origin, and the only faithful history of 
man. It gives true and correct views of God— that he 
hates sin and loves the sinner. It gives the true character 
9 



130 LIFE OF 

of Jesus Christ — his birth, life, ministry, sayings, doings, 
sufferings, death, power, love, his word, his works, his 
thoughts, his heart. Thank God, there is one theme we 
can understand - Christ. The Bible contains encouraging 
examples of good; a rich treasury of precious promises; 
describes that blessed hope which is as an anchor to the 
soul; contains faithful warnings; our final destiny — all 
sealed with the precious blood of Christ. 

''I ask the question, * How readest thou?' Because 
no book has done so much for the world. When Christ 
sent out his few disciples it looked like an impossibility to 
revolutionize the world. He sent them out when the 
world was full of superstition, cruelty, lust, and sin of 
every kind. Follow in their track and see what was done. 
Each man went forth then, and should now — one holy 
man, with one holy Book. The results, in a few years, 
were as follows : They pulled down idolatry, introduced a 
pure morality, altered the standard of purity and decency, 
raised the character and position of women, encountered 
the most cruel opposition, yet conquered, and the chains 
of slavery were broken by the gospel of liberty ; and the 
glory of its victories is that they were bloodless. 

*'This is the Book which turned Europe upside down 
in the days of the Reformation. It was not merely the 
preaching of Luther; but that which overthrew the Pope's 
power was the Bible, translated into German and read by 
the people. Not merely the quarrel between Henry VIII. 
and the Pope, which lessened the hold of the Papacy on 
the English mind; it was the royal permit to have the 
Bible translated and placed in the churches, so that all 
might read it. Look at the countries where the Bible 
is prohibited — Italy, Spain, the South American States. 



KNOWLES SHAW. I3I 

Compare them with those where the Bible is free to all — 
England, Scotland, and the United States, We may judge 
of a nation by its treatment of the Bible. 

^^To the influence of the Bible we are indebted for 
every humane and charitable institution in existence. 
The sick, the poor, the aged, and infirm ; the orphan, the 
lunatic, the idiot, the deaf, the dumb, the blind, were sel- 
dom thought of before the Bible exerted its influence 
over so many lands. Little does the scoffing infidel think, 
as he lies sick, far from home in some hospital, attended 
by kind hands, that he owes his very life to that Bible he 
has affected to despise. Surely such a Book as this has 
more than an ordinary claim upon our attention. We 
press, then, the question, ' ITozv readest thouV Read it 
right. It will not make you a doctor, a lawyer, an engi- 
neer, but it will make one wise unto salvation. There is 
another world to be thought of. The Bible can show the 
way to heaven. Do you read it to learn your duty ? The 
Bible has wrought moral miracles in all ages. It has made 
drunkards sober ; unchaste, pure ; thieves, honest ; violent, 
meek ; lovers of pleasure, to be lovers of God. By it we 
are to be sanctified — ^ thoroughly furnished unto all good 
works.' Yes, this is one infallible guide we have, we want 
no other. Here infallibility resides. Not in the church, 
not in councils, not in ministers; it is only found in the 
written word of God. This is the only infalHble thing on 
earth. If men are not benefited by it, the fault is with 
themselves, not the Book. Read it like the eunuch, and 
find Christ in it; like the Bereans, to find whether the 
things you have heard preached be so. 

*^Man has awfully neglected this book. Man has a 
way of abusing blessings, both for the body and soul. 



132 LIFE OF 

The Catholic Church has kept, and even now keeps, the 
Bible from the masses. This Book, given for our learn- 
ing — ^the sword of the Spirit' — ^able to make us wise 
unto salvation,' neglected! How inexcusable, O man! 
Seldom read but on Sunday — often not then ! Read care- 
lessly ; read prayerlessly ; read by scraps, with no special 
aim. Some neglect it because it condemns them. * How 
readest thou?' By that word we shall be judged. What 
are other books? What are the books we read most? 
What are novels compared to this? We must all die, 
be judged, saved, or lost. Read the Bible, try modern 
doctrines by it, learn yOtir duty for yourself. Read it 
because the good have always loved it, and found comfort 
in it. Read it, because it alone can give comfort in death. 
Worldly pleasures can not give comfort. How hollow the 
brilliant ball-room, the merry dance, the card-table, the 
opera, in the hour of death ! Not from these, nor from 
those who find joy in them, do we seek for solace then. 
No; call one good man, with the one good Book. Let 
all be quiet; listen! 'Tis the voice of God; hear the 
sacred word! Oh how full of comfort, if a Christian, the 
words : ' Our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, 
work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight 
of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, 
but at the things which are not seen ; for the things which 
are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen 
are eternal.' Oh give me my Bible and my faith, and I 
can bear all my trials and persecutions, and die in peace. 
**0f all men's buried talents, none will weigh them 
down so heavily as a neglected Bible. As you deal with 
God's word, so God will deal with you. Read it with an 
honest purpose ; read it fairly, systematically, and obey as 
you read, and you are safe. 



KNOWLES SHAW. 133 

'^Men idolize their church, praise their minister, glory 
in their creeds, trust in their sacraments. Let us cherish 
the word of God. It is the lamp to our feet in life's great 
wilderness. It is our chart over life's stormy sea. 

**We need Bible-reading ministers, Bible-reading con- 
gregations. Oh what blessings would follow if we were a 
Bible-reading nation ! Sinner, turn from the world, obey 
the word of the Lord, and live forever.'' 

In the delivery of the above, it was expanded to 
perhaps five times its present length. It is indeed 
only an outline, but still one that will serve to indi- 
cate the channel in which the current of his thoughts 
was wont to flow. 

A few thoughts from a *' Sermon to Young Men,'' 
will here find a fitting place. His theme was the 
question of the young man who came to Christ, and 
seemed so desirous of knowing and doing his will, 
who, after having said that he had kept the com- 
mandments from his youth up, asked, **What lack 
I yet?" 

^^ Religion is the most important element in character; 
it is the director of all the rest. Every true man, in real 
earnest, who knows what religion is, desires to become a 
rehgious man, and then to do all he can for it, and enjoy 
all he can of it. It does not always appear so; but it is 
so. They desire it with different degrees of will. We all 
have more or l^ss opposition ; there are many hindrances. 
One has a lion of a temper; another the demon of appe- 
tite — enemies within and enemies without. 

'^Now, in this great conflict^ the question by every 



134 i-iFE OF 

thoughtful young man is, * What lack I yet?' After all I 
have done for myself, after all that others — father, mother, 
friends, teachers, country, God, Christ, the Bible, the 
Spirit — have done, still there is alack, what is it? Oh! 
Svhat lack I yet?' * One thing thou lackest.' If not a 
Christian you lack everything, as a corpse lacks life. 
Here is the sphere in which a young man can labor to gain 
an immortal crown, 'Seek first the kingdom of God/ 
Accept Christ and labor for a cause that is worthy pC all 
your efforts. The noblest character among young men is 
the Christian. With what holy pride do we point to our 
young men who are laboring in their various professions 
and callings as Christians, for Christ and humanity ? A 
host ! Look at them ! That young farmer, in his plain 
garb, who industriously toils, and honestly earns his daily 
bread, who leads at the same time a pious, devoted life. 
That young physician, who not only relieves the body of 
its aches and pains, but who looks to God for guidance, 
and has a cheerful word for his patient if a Christian, or 
a word of warning if a sinner; whose daily life proves 
him a child of God. As he sits in the great congregation, 
an humble worshiper with God's people, with what pleas- 
ure we point to him, thus dedicating his powers to God 
and humanity. Then the young Christian lawyer, who 
takes not a bribe against the innocent, who defends the 
just claim, and labors to promote law and order. With 
pride we point to all these and say. Behold the witnesses 
for Jesus. What a power for the right ! What a grand 
company? Then the young minister, who stands as an 
example in word and deed to his companions and young 
friends ; you know young men, that you love and respect 
him, nay, even admire him, as with tear-filled eyes he 



KNOWLES SHAW. 135 

Stands and earnestly pleads for souls. Oh, the honors 
which await such a host as this ! Then let me appeal to 
your better judgment, and urge you to accept Christ to- 
night. It is just and reasonable; he demands it, and you 
owe it. It is the demand of gratitude ; see what he has 
done for you. Are you not grateful for this rich offer of 
his love ? How much happier such a course will render 
you. How much safer you will be — how much more use- 
ful to society and friends. You will be better sons, better 
brothers, better citizens, better teachers, better in any 
department of life in which your work may lay. God 
calls you, Christ died for you, the Spirit warns you, heaven 
opens to you, then come ! Death is on your track ; soon 
you may be among the dead. The soul requires some- 
thing more than earth can give in view of death. To the 
Christian, death comes a welcome visitor, to deliver him 
from mortality, from the sechanging scenes and decaying 
body, on which time wages perpetual war, whitening our 
locks, furrowing our cheeks, weakening our nerves, and 
death comes but to deliver. Dread not then, fellow- 
Christian! Procrastinate not, dear sinner; come to-night ; 
start for usefulness, happiness, and heaven." 



136 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XII. 



Not a Eulogy^ hit a Life — Pen Portrait by David Walk — 
Meeting at Memphis — Notices by the Memphis Press, 

*' Paint me as I am/' said Oliver Cromwell to the 
artist, who was transferring his features to the can- 
vas, and thought to flatter him by leaving out of 
the picture the unsightly wart by which his face was 
disfigured. The stern old warrior did not wish to 
appear different from what he really was; he wanted 
his picture to be, not a flattering resemblance, but 
a faithful likeness, and to this, even the wart was 
necessary. 

The biographer often falls into a similar error, when 
painting character; by smoothing that which is rough, 
or omitting that which is unsightly ; but this is always 
a mistake, as weakness and imperfection belong to 
all characters, and no character is drawn to the life 
when these are left out. To say that Brother Shaw 
had no defects would be to claim more than can 
be claimed with truth for any mortal. The rude 
surroundings of his early life, his want of mental 
training, his lack of social culture, were all great 
drawbacks, and left such traces that none who knew 



KNOWLES SHAW. 137 

him could fail to see. The disadvantages under which 
he labored were such as many a man would never 
have surmounted, and the wonder is, not that the 
rudeness, hardships, privations, and associations of 
early life left their indelible impress upon him ; but 
that he was able to overcome and outgrow them to 
the extent he did. But even his defects were his 
own. They did not arise from a vain attempt to 
imitate the excellencies of others. They were not 
failures, but peculiarities, as much his own, as the 
outlines of his figure, the features of his face, the 
expression of his eyes, and the tones of his voice. 
Sometimes he would shock the sensitive natures of 
a city audience by his disregard of stereotyped pro- 
prieties, but he more than atoned for it by a tender- 
ness and pathos which they were unable to resist ; 
and many a preacher whose sense of propriety he 
violated by his rough logic and peculiar mannerisms, 
would gladly have exchanged his own purer style 
and more refined manner for Shaw's wonderful 
power over the minds and hearts of men. 

There were times when his tall, angular, and some- 
what ungainly figure, assumed an air of majesty, and 
the message he dehvered lost nothing by the appear- 
ance and manner of the messenger ; for self was for- 
gotten, and the message engrossed all his thoughts. 
He looked and spake, as we may imagine the prophets 
and apostles did when they rebuked the people of 
Israel for their sins, or entreated lost sinners to be 
reconciled to God. His deep, unfeigned earnest- 



138 LIFE OF 

ness rendered his hearers unmindful of any defects 
in manner, and his evident sincerity disarmed crit- 
icism. Dead though he be, we desire the reader to 
see him as when Hving, and shall present him as he 
appeared to his most impartial critics, ere death had 
turned all criticism into tenderness, and eyes that 
might have been keen to observe defects were 
dimmed with tears. The following sketch is from 
the pen of David Walk, in the winter of 1877: 

''I first met Brother Shaw in Edinburgh, Indiana, 
January 3d, 1863. He was devoting a portion of 
his time to the church in that town, and I think a 
portion to the church called New Hope, in the 
country, a few miles south of the former place. At 
all events, after the close of my meeting at Edin- 
burgh, he was with me in a meeting at New Hope, 
and subsequently at Columbus, the county seat of 
Bartholomew County, still south of New Hope. 

**The first impression made upon me by Brother 
Shaw was unique. He did not strike me as possess- 
ing any of the commonly-accepted and conventional 
characteristics of a preacher ; tall, raw-boned, angu- 
lar, and awkward, he gave no promise then of the 
wonderful career he afterward accomplished. He 
seemed to me to be a ''Jack of all trades. '* He was 
agent for a sewing machine, and much of his time 
was spent in this behalf. In our walks around the 
town and country he would unceremoniously dodge 
into a house, sit down at the machine, adjust it, and 
then sew for dear life on whatever garment was in 



KNOWLES SHAW. 139 

hand. Oftener than otherwise, it would be some 
article of a lady's clothing. All this he did with the 
utmost coolness, and apparently unconscious of any- 
thing unusual in his conduct. He was very fond of 
playing the violin, and often, after the services, 
would spend an hour or two in this not unpleasant 
diversion. He was all unschooled in the convention- f 
alities of polite society. One rainy afternoon, at 
New Hope, a number of candidates were to be bap- 
tized. As I did all the preaching, he proffered his 
service as baptist. We repaired to a beautiful stream 
in the near neighborhood, where the ordinance was 
administered. Returning to the house of our host, 
he refused to make any change in his clothing, but 
stood and sat around the fire-place all the afternoon, 
in his bare feet^ drying his clothes, regardless of all 
around. This was quite shocking to my notions of 
decorum, but he seemed to make no account of the 
circumstance. In some respects, he seemed to me to 
be as simple and unaffected as a little child, and in 
others, to be entirely self-conscious. He thought that 
what he did was all right, and better than any one 
else could have done it. He affected, even at this 
early date, considerable literary skill, and did not 
hesitate to correct my grammar, rhetoric, and logic. 
He even undertook to show me how to preach, and 
succeeded more to his own satisfaction than to mine. 
''After this, I met him occasionally at our general 
Conventions, at Cincinnati and elsewhere, but had 
no special or personal knowledge of him for many 



140 LIFE OF 

years. Notes of his peculiar fame, and the repu- 
tation he was making in the field, from time to time 
reached me. AH that I heard and read concerning 
him caused me to wonder greatly, remembering, as 
I did, his unpropitious beginning. After I had been 
pastor at Memphis some seven or eight years, the 
brethren, with my approval, determined to give him 
a trial in that eminently conservative, and socially and 
religiously moss-grown city. Soon after his meeting 
closed I prepared the following notice of it for the 
Chfistian Standard^ which will sufficiently set forth 
the character and results of his first effort there: 

*< 'KNOWLES SHAW IN MEMPHIS. 

^* * Memphis, March 7, 1877. 

•'* * Dear Brother Errett: — I did not intend to say much 
about our late meeting in this city ; for, apart from other 
reasons, you have already published a lengthy and very 
just notice from one of our daily papers. But from all 
quarters the cry comes : ^'Tell us about your meeting." 
'* How did Brother Shaw take in Memphis ?" *' What do 
you think of his work ?" etc. , etc. From all of which I 
am led to understand, there is a general and widespread 
desire for some information beyond a mere statement of 
the facts and results of the effort. I shall endeavor, there- 
fore, to give an honest and faithful report of the preacher, 
his methods, and the results — as they appear to us here 
on the ground. 

' ' ^ In the first place, I ,may say that we were agreeably 
disappointed in every way. With us it was an experi- 
ment. We had heard so much of Brother Shaw's eccen- 
tricities that it was with sober misgivings we finally 



KNOWLES SHAW. I4I 

concluded to invite his aid. He came unheralded. No 
one outside of our church had so much as heard of him. 
He at once took the community captive. No man ever 
before created so profound an interest among all classes. 
Soon our large house was filled to its utmost capacity, 
while hundreds were turned away for want of room. And 
he held this audience steadily to the end. Many of the 
ministers of the city put in an appearance — some of them 
very often — and expressed their hearty sympathy with the 
work, and were earnest in prayer, and expressions of good 
will, until Brother Shaw included obedience as a part of 
the gospel ; then they dropped him. I shall always honor 
Brother Shaw for his fidelity to the whole, round gospel 
of Jesus Christ. Amid the greatest temptations to con- 
cede, to modify, to tone down something of the truth, he 
stood like a Avail of fire in defense of the whole truth. 
No man was ever more faithful to the gospel. I want this 
fact to be distinctly noted. He could have carried the 
whole city, and every church and preacher in it, had he 
consented to stop where Moody, Whittle, and other cele- 
brated revivalists stopped; but no : he preached the gospel 
as it was preached by those who were first divinely com- 
missioned to preach it by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. 
There might be a thousand objectionable things in Brother 
Shaw's methods, but this one fact would make me over- 
look them all. But is there anything objectionable ? 
Well, that is largely a matter of taste. I have yet to hear 
and see the man who in all respects is unobjectionable 
according to my ideas of taste and propriety. I suppose 
there are some who would object even to— pief He has 
some oddities, some idiosyncrasies, but they are so ob- 
viously natural to the man as not to appear very incongru- 



142 LIFE OF 

ous or inharmonious. I rather like them. I would not 
like to see Brother Errett, or Brother Pendleton, or Brother 
Lamar, undertake the same pulpit, philological and rhe- 
torical feats; but I see no impropriety in Brother Shaw 
attempting them, for he succeeds in them ; whereas, the 
brethren, above mentioned would make sorry work of it. 
For example : Imagine Brother Pendleton leaving the 
pulpit in the midst of his sermon, and, going to the 
remotest corner of the house, mounting a bench, and 
singing with most lugubrious air and whine — 
** * How tedious and tasteless the hours,* 
in illustration of the half-hearted, back-slidden Christian, 
who needs a protracted meeting every six months in order 
to keep any life in him. 

** * But when the protracted meeting has well advanced, 
this same remote-corner-Christian rushes to the front, 
singing with great vim — 

** * Am I a soldier of the cross?* 
just as Brother Shaw did, suiting the action to the word. 
Well, this is precisely what he did, and what is more, he 
did it successfully. 

^* ^ Of course, his ability to sing adds greatly to his power, 
and is a large element to his success in attracting and 
holding great audiences. He is as good a singer as 
either Sankey or the lamented Bliss, an infinitely better 
preacher than either Moody or Whittle. There ! I have 
done it. But if anybody can show to the contrary, let 
him do it. 

^* *I do not mean to be understood as approving all Brother 
Shaw does and says. Far from it. I would not like him 
as a regular diet all the year round. He would be none 
the less useful and powerful were he to leave off some 



KNOWLES SHAW 1 43 

things, while at the same time he would conciliate hyper- 
critical enemies of our cause. I told him this eight or 
ten times, but I do not think he heard me. He is too 
much absorbed in his work, and himself, to listen to the 
suggestions of age and wisdom. He has, I observe, a 
very fine opinion of Knowles Shaw. He will read these 
strictures, laugh at them, and the first time he meets me* 
slap me on the shoulder and say : ** Walk, that was a good 
thing. Ha, ha, ha !" And that will be the end of it. 
He will die thinking it a good joke, and never will believe 
that I am in solemn earnest. 

^' * He repeats himself too much. Many of his most 
effective sermons are marred by personal allusions, which, 
often repeated, lose their original force. Twenty-seven 
times he referred to the fact that he had made five funeral 
marches to the grave from his broken and desolated home. 
The first time he told this, it took the house by storm. 
Sixty-nine times he stated that in early life he fiddled for 
balls, parties, and theaters. He intended to illustrate the 
point that he was a great sinner saved by grace. Well, 
for the first forty or fifty times this fact of his youthful 
history had considerable power, but after that it became 
monotonous. But he can not be judged by any ordinary 
rule. Perhaps if he were to leave off the things of which 
I complain, he would be shorn of his power, and become 
altogether like the rest of us — weary, respectable plodders, 
who utterly fail, with all our refinement and elegance, to 
stir the public heart. 

*' *To show my sincerity, I will say that, if it were God's 
\yill, I would be glad to exchange my gifts for his. But it 
does appear to me that if I could sing as he can, and 
preach as he can, I would not need some of the accesso- 
ries which he deems indispensable. 



144 LIFE OF 

** ' What was the outcome of all this? Well, hundreds 
of people heard the gospel who never heard it before. 
And an interest was created in behalf of the cause in this 
city that never existed before. 

* ^ ' We love Brother Shaw so much that we are deter- 
mined to have him again. We have actually engaged 
liim for another meeting, and the time is set, but for pru- 
dential reasons we want nothing said about the time, 

* * ' We are going to make one more effort to win men to 
Christ. We need and we ask the prayers of the whole 
brotherhood. Brethren, pray that God will give us the 
victory in this wicked city. David Walk.* " 

To many, the above may seem severely ]\x^'i, but it 
has the merit of being a faithful picture, which those 
v^ho knew Brother Shaw best will not be slow to 
recognize. He said of it himself that it was the best, 
most appreciative, just notice, that had ever been 
written of him. Brother Walk adds: '*He was my 
guest five weeks, slept every night in my house, and 
ate nearly every meal at my table, and whatever 
criticisms either I or any member of the family had 
to make concerning his peculiarities, all were agreed 
in the judgment often expressed: 'Brother Shaw is 
2c good man.' ** 

Brother Shaw's own brief report of the above 
meeting is as follows: **I held a meeting of near 
three weeks with the Linden Street Church in Mem- 
phis, Tennessee, of which Brother Walk has been 
the faithful and successful pastor for over eight 
years, which closed on the 14th inst. There were 



KNOWLES SHAW. 145 

twenty-eight confessions, and during the entire meet- 
ing the house, which has capacity to seat seven hun- 
dred, was filled, and sometimes hundreds had to go 
away. Brother Walk is the best manager of a church 
I have found in my rounds. Backed by a good, intel- 
ligent, and zealous board of elders and deacons, suc- 
cess is not wonderful. I have received a call to 
return and hold a two weeks' meeting before long, 
as we could hardly call the other work finished.'* 

The Memphis papers speak of Brother Shaw's 
work with warm and unqualified approval, as the 
following extracts show: 

**THE SINGING EVANGELIST. 

'^Our religious reporter was in attendance at the Linden 
Street Christian Church both morning and night on Sunday 
last. He had heard much of the marvelous revivalist now- 
conducting services in that sanctuary ; and he concluded 
to see and hear for himself, and then to favor the public 
with his views of the situation. Mr. Shaw is a tall, raw- 
boned, rather ungainly specimen of the genus homo, 
standing about six feet four inches in his boots. His hair 
and beard are very luxuriant as to quantity, and dark 
auburn as to color. His articulation, while unusually- 
rapid, is at the same time wonderfully distinct. In style 
and manners he defies all known and unknown rules. 
He is emphatically a law unto himself He gets right 
down to business without wasting any time in prosy pre- 
liminaries. The first sentence is of as much consequence, 
and likely to be as sharp, as any that follows. He is 
intensely in earnest. He evidently believes the message 
lO 



146 LIFE OF 

which he brings to others. It absorbs and controls every 
faculty of his mind, and exercises every muscle of his 
body. He is very plain and practical. A little child can 
easily follow him. We judge that he lays no claim what- 
ever to being a chaste and finished orator, for such he 
certainly is not; but it must be confessed that he wields a 
strange power over his audience - one moment the face is 
wreathed in smiles, the next the eyes are overflowing with 
tears. 

''As to his ability as a singer we have heard a variety of 
opinions expressed by those competent to judge, the aver- 
age opinion being that he is about the equal of the late 
Mr. Bliss. It is agreed that in the low notes Mr. Bliss was 
his superior, but in the highest register, and in strength, 
volume, and sweetness, Mr. Shaw is greatly the superior 
of the lamented Bliss. This, of course, gives him an 
immense advantage over the mere preacher, for long be- 
fore he has announced his subject, he has sung his audience 
into deep and earnest sympathy with himself. 

But our readers must go and judge for themselves. No 
brief notice, such as we are able to give, will do justice 
to this really extraordinary man. They will see and hear 
some things which they will doubtless not approve; but, 
on the other hand, they can not but be benefited by the 
pure, and wholesome teachings of the evangelist. The 
audiences were immense on both occasions, and the ca- 
pacity of the house is likely to be taxed more than it can 
pay. We suggest to the deacons, Greenlaw Opera-house. 
Give the masses a chance.'* 

The progress of the meeting was noticed as below : 

*'The work of evangelism, under the conduct of Knowles 



KNOWLES SHAW. 14/ 

Shaw, still continues at the Linden Street Church. On 
Sunday night the audience exceeded nine hundred per- 
sons, one-third of whom stood during the long services, 
and as many turned away because of lack of comfortable 
accommodations. The preacher took for his subject, 
* Decision of Character,' addressing himself particularly 
to young men and women. He delineated with unerring 
certainty, with the skill of a deft limner, the characteris- 
tics essential to the perfection of manly or womanly virtue, 
and to their value as influential entities in the social, moral 
and religious sphere. Mr. Shaw seized hold of Daniel 
and Esther, of Scripture, as models of decision of charac- 
ter, pointing out what in them evoked their useful and 
influential development. This lecture was listened to with 
seeming interest by the congregation, among which our 
reporter counted ten lawyers, two judges, eight doctors of 
medicine, and six ministers of the gospel. The services 
of last evening were also largely attended, the theme of 
the sermon being, 'Almost Persuaded.' Upon this occa- 
sion some half-dozen persons were added to the church by 
open confession. We understand that the meetings will 
continue during the succeeding nights ,of the week, the 
subject for this evening being, * Honoring God.' 

vL* vt* ^ ^I^ ^^ *^ 

^f* >f* *j* ^y* *T* 'X* 

**The revival services, conducted by Mr. Shaw, at the 
Linden Street Christian Church, were again largely at- 
tended last night. The house was crowded to its utmost 
capacity. Many persons stood during the exercises, while 
others, not being accommodated with seats, went away. 
Mr. Shaw, selecting a text from Amos, one of the minor 
prophets, the fourth chapter and twelfth verse, warned the 
people to ^Prepare and meet their God.' The discourse 



148 LIFE OF 

was well balanced between the individual experiences and 
observations of the speaker and the way of the prepara- 
tion which every man should adopt in order to meet the 
great 'Judge of the quick and the dead.' The sermon 
was strongly doctrinal, involving in its development the 
tenets or principles of the church represented by the evan- 
gelist. He defined with frankness, fullness, and clearness 
his views in reference to the purposes of baptism, without 
in any way alluding to, or discussing the modes of admin- 
istration of .this solemn ordinance. He stated that he 
dwelt particularly upon the subject of a preparation be- 
cause of the fact that his people (the Campbellites) had 
been misunderstood as to the intent and purposes of bap- 
tism under their practices. The attention of the congre- 
gation was marked by courtesy, and if the vanity of the 
preacher can be excited by the crowd and interest mani- 
fested, then the evangelist should be satisfied. Some 
additions were made to the church at the close of the 
exercises. 

s^ %^ %^ O^ %Xf %1^ 

^> ^f% *J* ^^ ^% ^^ 

''Mr. Shaw held forth last night at the Linden Street 
Christian Church to a crowded house, the subject of his 
discourse having been, 'Heavenly Recognition.' The 
speaker presented the subject clearly, although the discourse 
was less replete than any preceding one with scriptural 
citations. He handled the matter most interestingly, and, 
at times,, spoke with deep feeling and touching pathos. 
His sermon consumed one hour and five minutes, but the 
audience manifested no impatience, nor disposition to re- 
tire before the conclusion. On the other hand, a large 
body of the congregation lingered after the closing to talk 
with Mr. Shaw, and with one another. He announced 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 49 

that since beginning the services of the evening, he had 
been handed a copy of the last song ever composed by his 
friend and late singing companion, Mr. P. P. Bliss, and 
though entirely new to himself, he would sing the same 
this evening. That, as this sweet singer in Israel was held 
in such affectionate remembrance by the people of Mem- 
phis, and everything connected with his life and death 
would be so gladly received by them ; at the close of 
to-night's services, he would give to the audience some 
facts, both of the work of Mr. Bliss, and also everything 
that had been discovered in reference to the last moments 
of the lamented man and wife, and the memorial services 
after their death. The subject of Mr. Shaw's discourse, 
to-night, will be : ^ The fullness of the times, or the great 
consummation.' It is probable that the labors of the 
evangelist in this field will then close, as he has engage- 
ments elsewhere." 

From the above we gather that the interest was 
great, but by no nneans unusual. Even greater 
interest, and much greater success, had attended his 
labors at St. Louis, Covington, South Bend, and 
many other places, before that visit ; and not long 
after New Orleans was visited, and did not prove an 
exception t(5 the rule. 

We can not close this chapter without calling 
attention to the fact, that Brother Walk's first im- 
pressions with regard to Shaw were received, when 
the latter had been but a short time before the pub- 
lic, and these may have had more influence than he 
was aware of in regard to the views expressed in the 



150 LIFE OF 

latter part of his article. We think it therefore emi- 
nently proper to give the views of other competent 
judges with regard to him when he had outgrown 
much that Brother Walk noted in the early part of 
his career, which we shall do in the next chapter. 



KNOWLES SHAW. I5I 



CHAPTER XIIL 



The Editor of the Christian Preacher on Shaw's Method and 
Manner — Elder Caskefs Review of Wilmethy and Opinion 
of Shaw — The Editor's Rejoinder, 

It is quite likely that Brother Shaw never had 
fuller and freer command of his powers than during 
the meeting at Memphis, which is described at length 
in the preceding chapter. He was then forty-three 
years of age, mature in body and mind, and as full 
of purpose as ever to spend the remainder of his life 
in his chosen work. In the next year, which none 
who knew him thought would be Ijis last, before his 
vigor had departed or any of his powers had suffered 
a sad eclipse, he labored with wonted zeal and with 
great success; and during his last meeting at Dallas, 
Texas, he was described as follows by two different 
writers, who never had met him till then. The first 
was the editor of the Christian Preacher^ published at 
Dallas, Texas, who thus sketched him in the col- 
umns of his paper: 

*'Knowles Shaw, as a revivalist and musician, has a 
national name. He is tall and well proportioned, has a 



152 LIFE OP 

searching eye, a cheerful countenance and luxuriant whis- 
kers, and is past the meridian of life. 

*' He has preached about nineteen years ; in almost all 
the States of the Union; and has baptized over eleven 
thousand. He is the author of a number of music-books; 
sings in several languages ; and plays on many kinds of 
instruments. He reasons like Paul; is as bold as Peter; 
and as tender as John. He is natural like Shakespeare ; 
witty like Swift ; and pathetic like Burns. He is as inde- 
pendent as Beecher ; as idiosyncratic as Talmage ; and as 
indefatigable as Moody. He sings with the energy of 
Sankey; and plays with the action of Blind Tom. He 
can support the character, in the same scene, of clergy- 
man and clown, actor and ape, nightingale and parrot. 
During his discourse, you may see him pacing the plat- 
form singing some thrilling song of Zion, or seated by the 
organ playing some touching sentimental ballad. You 
may behold him on bended knee, before some cruel king, 
in tender tones imploring mercy ; or perched upon the 
end of a bench, off in the amen corner, stiff as a poker 
and cold as a midnight spook, burlesquing the lukewarm 
Christian to the tune of 

** * How tedious and tasteless the hours.' 
You may behold the audience baptized in tears, while he 
stands in memory by the bed-side of a beautiful dying 
daughter, who says, *I'm going home, dear father, and 
after a few more years of toil and tears you'll follow me ; ' 
or you may see them convulsed with laughter, as he por- 
trays, in pantomime, with walled eyes and distorted coun- 
tenance, gestures and grips, grimaces and grins, a balky 
horse or a bad boy." 



KNOWLES SHAW. 153 

The second article shows that the first impression 
was strengthened by his subsequent efforts : 

** Brother Shaw has been with us a month, and has 
added more than a hundred to the Commerce Street con- 
gregation. At other places, he has added, in the course 
of a single meeting, several hundred. During a ministry 
of twenty years, he has averaged over five hunded addi- 
tions a year. Besides these ' visible results ' of his preach- 
ing, of course the good seed is sown in many other hearts, 
and the church is generally strengthened in its faith and 
zeal. These extraordinary results make us inquire, What 
are the secrets of his success ? It has been suggested by 
some of the Baptists that they create a chair in their 
Theological Seminary to teach how to hold revivals; and 
one of their editors mentions Major Penn as a suitable 
professor to fill that chair. Certainly Knowles Shaw 
would make a better Professor of Revivals than Major 
Penn ; and, as he can not take the time from evangenz- 
ing to formally fill a coUegiiate chair, we propose, in lieu 
of that, to gather up for our readers some of the golden 
filings that fall from his evangelistic machinery. First, he 
wins the people's ears before he woos their hearts. His 
reputation gives him the vantage ground in this. But a 
reputation can not hold a congregation after a first hear- 
ing, if a reputation is all the speaker possesses. He says 
that if he were called upon to give the three elements of 
success, he would say, * First, work; second, work; 
third, WORK.' So he works from the commencement 
of a meeting to its close — all over and in every way. He 
sometimes sees to the proper ventilation of the room, and 
to the seating of the audience. He plays the instrument 



154 LIFE OF 

and leads the music. He reads the Scripture, and com- 
ments and illustrates as he reads. He does some of the 
praying and all of the preaching. If another baptizes, he 
directs and assists actively all the time. With all the 
assistance that a live congregation can give, yet there is as 
great a proportion of Shaw in one of his meetings as there 
is water on the world. While something may be lost by 
not having others to labor, this very individuality always 
attracts the people; and, being a * master of assemblies,' 
he leads them along, step by step, without offense. Sec- 
ondly, he utilizes music to its utmost. Not only does he 
train the audience rigidly upon new songs, and the proper 
rendition of the more familiar; but occasionally he sand- 
wiches into the rehearsal a solo, or into the sermon a sen- 
timental, thereby stirring the emotions from their very 
depths. Although his voice is somewhat impaired by 
protracted preaching, yet he sings with such remarkable 
clearness and precision that it greatly compensates for the 
lack of volume and tone. The chief charm of his singing 
is his invariably distinct enunciation. Every word is dis- 
tinctly heard, though it be a whisper. His music bears 
the precious truth straight to the heart. If he seems to 
unscientifically snap off a strain, it is simply to put a 
cracker on it which will be felt. Though we have heard 
finer vocalists, we scarcely have met a man who could so 
successfully sing his sentiments into the souls of the peo- 
ple. Thirdly, his preaching is attractive, instructive, and 
powerful. He has much of *the milk of human kindness* 
^ in his heart ; so that his sermons abound in touching illus- 
trations from experience and observation. The hand of 
'affliction has been laid heavily upon him, having buried 
out of his sight in one year five of his family ; and, know- 



KNOWLES SHAW. 155 

ing the sorrows of this life, he can persuade men to pre- 
pare for a better. He depends largely upon the pfower of 
God's word. He does not trust to his singing, his prayers, 
and his illustrations, but to the incorruptible seed to en- 
liven the sinner. His preaching is equally divided between 
saint and sinner, and he is as pointed to the saint as the 
sinner. His scathing of sin in professed Christians can 
not be too highly commended, while it is all done in a 
kind spirit and an inoffensive style. His language is gen- 
erally beyond criticism, and is often very elegant, though 
sometimes tinctured with uncanonized words. He is not 
pedantic, makes no pretensions lo profundity; being 
rather desirous of making things plain and pointed. 
Finally, he is true to one of his mottoes, ' Much go-ahead- 
itiveness and never-let-go-itiveness.' He continues a meet- 
ing till it is concluded, and only concludes it when he 
concludes there are no others to be reached by it. This 
is an improvement upon what is common in our country. 
We surrender the field as soon as we have thrown up a 
few intrenchments. We sow a few seeds, generally, and 
leave them to germinate and die without watering or cul- 
tivation. He sometimes remains with a congregation for 
a year after an ingathering, which, in entirely new congre- 
gations, we deem eminently necessary and scriptural. 

' ' Much is yet to be learned by us abodt planting the 
gospel ; and it is hoped that the above may help us on to 
some better knowledge of preaching the truth. While in 
every man we may find faults, we do not wish to copy; we 
should ever be ready to separate the golden wheat from 
the worthless chaff, and appropriate it for good. It would 
be gross presumption to say that we could learn nothing 
from Knowles Shaw, who has stirred Dallas to its depths.'' 



156 LIFE OF 

Some expressions in the foregoing were regarded 
as ill-chosen, and called forth the following from 
Elder T. W. Caskey, well known through the South 
as one of the ablest preachers in the State : 

CASKEY ON SHAW. 

'^Sherman, Texas, May 18, 1878. 

'^ Brother Mac : — Some of Brother Shaw's friends are 
somewhat grieved at your pen-portrait of the man, but 
I think they are more sensitive than need be, for you 
attribute to him the leading and best element of many of 
the greatest names that have brightened the pages of sacred 
or profane history : Paul, Peter, John, Shakespeare, 
Swift, Burns, Beecher, Moody, Talmage, Sankey, and 
last, but not least in his line. Blind Tom, the greatest 
musical genius of the world. The man who possesses 
these, certainly stands upon the head of the highest of his 
fellows. Give me but half of these, and I'll agree to pack 
the whole spotted breeches family, the whole monkey 
tribe, the parrot and all other discordant-noted birds, 
together with Blind Tom and the whole African race 
thrown in. The versatility of genius ascribed to him is 
simply wonderful, not more so than true. 

^'If any injustice is done to Brother Shaw, it is in the 
latter part of your article, where you use the terms latitu- 
dinarianism, preaching through envy, etc. If you intend 
this to to apply to Brother Shaw, you have done him great 
injustice, and I know you will make the amende honorable ; 
for doctrinally, as far as I have heard him, he is as narrow- 
, gauged as Brother Ben. Franklin would have him to be. 
As to his eccentricities, they are God-given and not as- 
sumed, and to accomplish one-half as much as he does I 



KNOWLES SHAW. 15/ 

would agree to shoulder them all and as many more. 
Brother Shaw says and does many things I could not do if 
I would, and would not if I could, and which, of course, 
I do not approve ; but this is not the trouble with me. 
My trouble is T. W. Caskey does the same, and I cer- 
tainly don't want him to come to my standard. 

**If Brother Shaw preaches Christ through envy, then 
my prayer to God is, to greatly increase his envy ; if the 
Commerce Street Church is having it done through envy, 
and are working as they have been and are, then may a 
Pentecostal shower of it fall upon all the churches in Texas. 

^^T. W. Caskey." 

This called forth the following explanation : 

**In our article, alluded to above, some things were said 
which no doubt jarred upon the ears of some persons. 
On the contrary, however, it struck a vein of approval 
and applause in the hearts of a host of brethren. 

* ' The comparison to Blind Tom was not made because 
he is a negro, but because he is a musical genius, well 
known and universally admired. The point of compari- 
son was not as to color, sense, or profession, but as to 
* action.' It is sometimes said of those who can not re- 
frain from dancing when they hear music, that their music 
is located in their feet; but Brother Shaw's is located all 
over him. His body sways to and fro, like a tall pine in 
a storm ; his head bobs up and down and about, his long 
beard following like the train of a comet ; his face is now 
bowed horizontal with the floor and then upturned to the 
ceiling; his eyes turning by times to all points of the com- 
pass ; and his left hand has a peculiar crow-hop from the 
key-board of the organ over his head, there hanghig, while 



IS8 LIFE OF 

he dwells on a long note. This is Knowles Shaw, and it 
reminds us of Blind Tom's action at the piano, and his 
after clapping of hands. As to the expressions * clown,' 
*ape,' * parrot,' etc., they were simply the most suitable 
words by which to give forcible expression to the facts 
in the case. 

* ' We did not accuse Brother Shaw of latitudinarianism, 
but of the 'semblance of latitudinarianism.' In the earlier 
part of his meeting he spoke of his preaching having re- 
sulted in some places in adding members to the Baptist 
and Methodist Churches as well as to his own ; used the 
term ' Campbellism ' in such a way that opposers quoted 
him as sanctioning its use; and now and then ridiculed 
such principles as, * Where the Bible speaks, we speak; and 
where the Bible is silent^ we are silent. ' Be it said to his 
praise, however, that the inferences drawn from such slip- 
shod expressions have been chiefly dispelled by plain and 
pointed discourses, upon first principles and lucid and 
touching lectures upon Christian duty. He fights carnality 
and uncleanness with all the vim that's in him. He even 
gave Brother Caskey some sharp raps on the knuckles for 
chewing his quid and squirting his tobacco juice. The 
dance and the dram-shop receive no mercy from his hands ; 
and right well did we enjoy his thunderbolts against them. 
He can beat the man that makes them, telling temperance 
anecdotes." 

No man of ordinary abilities could have called 
forth such unstinted praise as this from strangers; 
and one of them, Elder Caskey, says that before 
hearing him he had been somewhat prejudiced 
against him by the reports he had heard vv^ith regard 



KNOWLES SHAW. 159 

to his eccentricities and peculiarities. Not only was 
this prejudice removed by what he saw and heard, 
but he declared, **Such a man I never met before 
on life's journey, and never expect to meet again 
till its journey ends." 

But, apart from all that has been said of him, we 
have twenty years of such faithful and earnest work 
as the world has seldom seen ; and this will give the 
best idea of the man, and it is hoped will lead others 
to a noble emulation of his labors. 



l60 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Extent and Variety of His Labors — Extracts from Diary for 
1877 — Last Day at Home. 

To give an idea of the variety and extent of 
Brother Shawns labors, it has occurred to me that 
the best way to accompHsh this would be to review 
the work of an entire year. For this purpose I have 
chosen the year 1877; ^^^ because it was one of his 
most laborious and successful ones, but because it is 
the only one of which I have a full and connected 
record. The first day of the year found him at 
Columbus, Mississippi, and the first lines in his 
diary are, *'Lord, help me this year to do more for 
thee than in any previous year in winning souls to 
Christ. Convinced of my weakness and asking his 
strength I commence the work." His first day's 
work shows that he was instant in season and out of 
season. The record is brief: 

*^ Monday, January i, 1877. Deep snow. At 10 
A. M., two men and two boys present. Read psalm, 



KNOWLES SHAW. l6l 

prayed, and sang. 7 P. M., Subject, ^Watchfulness.' 
Twenty-five persons out ; and some feeling. 

** Tuesday, 2d, 10 A. M. Twelve persons out. Sub- 
ject of discourse, * Nearness to the Cross.' 7 P. M. Sub- 
ject, 'Mercy and Obedience.' Better audience. Fifty 
persons out ; good attention. 

*' Wednesday, 3d, 10 A. M. Subject, * Christian Use- 
fulness.' Twenty-one present; good interest. 7 P. M. 
Subject, * Witness of the Spirit.' Seventy-five present, 
among them Baptist and Presbyterian ministers. 

''Thursday, 4th, 10 A. M. Subject, 'Prayer.' Thirty- 
six present; good impression and feeling. Praise God. 
7 P. M. Subject, ' Glorious Gospel.' One hundred 
present ; remarkable attention. Praise God. 

"Friday, 5th, 10 A. M. Subject, 'Patience.' Fifty- 
four present. 7 P. M. Subject, ' Resisting the Spirit.' 
Good crowd. Thank God. 

"Saturday, 6th, 10 A. M. Subject, 'Believe, Love, 
and Do.' Sixty out— two preachers; good impression. 
Lord, give us a good work to-night. 7 P. M. Subject, 
'The Faithful Saying.' Good audience. 

"Sunday, 7th, 10^ A. M. Subject, ' God the Just and 
Justifier.' Fine audience. Blessed meeting. 3 P. M. 
Subject, 'Who is on the Lord's Side.' House full. Praise 
God. 7 P. M. Subject, 'Decision.' House crowded. 

"Monday, 8th, 10 A. M. Subject, 'Christian Progres- 
sion.' Fifty present. 7 P. M. Subject, ' Prepare to 
Meet thy God.' Three came forward; two confessed 
Christ. 

"Tuesday, 9th, 10 A. M. Subject, 'Prerogatives.' 
Eighty present ; one confession. 7 P. M. Subject, 'Al- 
most.' House filled; three confessions. 

II 



l62 LIFE OF 

** Wednesday, loth, lo A. M. Subject ^Harvest' 
7 P. M. Subject, * Church and Preparatives/ Good 
audience; fine attention. Lord, grant us fruit for Jesus' 
sake. 

'* Thursday, nth, lo A. M. Subject, * All Sufficiency 
in Christ.' Good audience and attention. 7 P. M. 
Subject, ^What Must I Do?' Lord help us, forgive us, 
save us, and bring others to thy Cross. 

^^ Friday, 12th, 10 A. M. Subject, ^Christ's Tempta- 
tion.' 7. P. M. Subject, 'Honoring God.' 

" Saturday, 13th, 10 A. M. Subject, 'The Lord's Side.' 
7 P. M. Subject, 'Pilgrim's Invitation.' 

"Sunday, 14th, 10^ A. M. Subject, 'Mediation.' 
7 P. M. Subject, ' Witness of the Spirit' House crowded 
to overflowing. 

"Monday, 15th, 10 A. M. Lecture. 7 P. M. Sub- 
ject, ' Christ Justified. 

"Tuesday, i6th, 10 A. M. Subject, ' Evil Communica- 
tions.' 7 P. M. Subject, 'Sanctification.' House filled. 

"Wednesday, 17th, 10 A. M. Subject, ' Morning Star.' 
7 P. M. Subject, ' God's Righteousness.' 

"Thursday, i8th, 7 P. M. Subject, 'Angels.' House, 
filled. 

"Friday, 19th. Started for Memphis. O Lord, may 
our Memphis work be a glorious one for Jesus' sake!" 

At Memphis he remained nearly three weeks, 
creating great interest, and gaining about thirty 
additions. The particulars of this meeting are given 
elsewhere, in the admirable sketch by Polder D. Walk, 
who was pastor of the church at Memphis at that 
time. After a brief sojourn at home, during which 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 63 

he preached almost daily, he went to Paducah, Ken- 
tucky, on the 22d of February, and at once gained 
a large and attentive hearing, which continued to 
the close. He was there some twelve days, and had 
twenty-five additions. 

At a previous meeting, at the same place, fifty-four ( 
were added. Geo. E. Flower, who was pastor of the ^ 
church there at that time, writes on February nth, 
1879: **No man ever visited Paducah that did as 
much good as Brother Shaw. It has sometimes been 
said that the members he took in were stony-ground 
hearers. It was not the case with us; they are most 
of them faithful yet.*' 

After a three weeks' sojourn at home, not to rest, 
but labor, he started, on the 28th of March, for New 
Orleans ; and immediately on his arrival entered on 
his work. He soon perceived that the field was an 
extremely difficult one in which to labor, and would 
require more time to work up an interest than his . 
other engagements would allow. Under these cir- 
cumstances he thought it best not to make the 
attempt. He was persuaded to remain, and went to 
work, if possible, with more than his wonted zeal 
and earnestness ; had hand-bills struck, and went to 
the Mayor of the city to obtain permission to preach 
in Lafayette Square on Sunday afternoon. The 
Mayor at first refused permission, but afterward 
granted it; and on Sunday afternoon he held an 
out-door service in the Public Square above men- 
tioned. This advertised his meetings at the churchy 



164 LIFE OF 

and the house was soon filled. Soon it became 
necessary to fill the aisles with chairs; then every 
foot of standing-room was occupied, and many were 
unable to find even an entrance. By the next Sun- 
day his meeting was well advertised, and on the 
afternoon of that day he addressed an audience of 
some two thousand persons : among them beggars, 
tramps, roughs, boot-blacks, and newsboys ; many 
of whom had never heard a sermon before, and who 
would not have heard that if they had been obliged 
to enter a church to do so. On the next Sunday 
the crowd in the Square was still larger, and his 
meetings were regarded as a complete success. He 
made several temperance speeches while there, which 
were well received, and few men ever made them- 
selves more widely or favorably known in New 
Orleans, within the space of less than three weeks, 
than did Knowles Shaw. Eleven persons were added 
to the church during this visit, and impressions were 
made on others that will never be forgotten. 

The following notice is from the New Orleans Times: 

" THE SINGING EVANGELIST. 

** Hearing much of Rev. Knowles Shaw, the celebrated 
singing evangelist, now visiting this city, our reporter con- 
cluded last night to see and hear for himself, and hence 
was in place *on time^ at the Christian Church, corner of 
Camp and Melpomene Streets. At 7:15 Mr. Shaw came 
in with hasty step and seated himself at the organ in front 
of the congregation and promptly began the ' thirty-min- 
utes service of song,' which precedes each sermon. It 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 65 

was manifest in a moment that he was master of the situa- 
tion — that he understood his work and meant to execute 
it promptly. His business-Hke management of affairs was 
the first noticeable peculiarity. ^The service of song' 
was interspersed with solos, in which the evangelist, though 
a little hoarse from cold, evinced wonderful power. This 
part of the service the large audience present seemed to 
enjoy very much. 

*' Following this was the sermon, in which the speaker 
enforced the thought that God's mercy will not exempt 
man from duty — that in grace as in nature there is a human 
as well as a divine part. 

* * Mr. Shaw is marked by several peculiarities. He is 
a tall, raw-boned man, possesses great powers of endur- 
ance, and is deeply in earnest. He intersperses the sermon 
with many pointed anecdotes, and makes some powerful 
hits at popular sins - in short, a live preacher; and though 
one may differ from him and object to his eccentricities, 
he will nevertheless admit he is a power for good. Mr. 
Shaw will hold open-air services again in Lafayette Square 
next Sunday evening.'' 

After a few days' rest, which with him meant more 
than an ordinary man's work, he again visited Mem- 
phis, where he remained two weeks engaged in 
active labor, which resulted in nine additions to the 
church. Less than one week after this he was at 
Jackson, Mississippi, where he continued two weeks, 
holding sometimes three and even four services per 
day; some of them in the open air. Twenty-eight 
were added to the church, and many recruits 
obtained for the temperance army. 



1 66 LIFE OF 

The Jackson Times thus noticed his meetings: 

** Services were held at the Christian Church on yester- 
day morning, and again at night. Both were well attended, 
especially at night, when the house was filled to overflow- 
ing, many persons having to stand outside at the doors 
and windows. The theme was the ' ' Trial and Crucifix- 
ion of Christ, '' which was presented in a peculiarly unique 
manner. At the close of the services one young lady 
presented herself for membership, three persons having 
done so at the morning services, making a total to this 
date of nineteen persons who have united themselves with 
that church during this meeting. The minister in charge, 
Rev. Knovvles Shaw, is certainly a man of no ordinary 
abilities, and we hope that his visit to Jackson will result 
in great good to the cause of religion here. 

And again : 

'^Rev. Knowles Shaw, the Evangelist, is still here and 
his meetings are becoming daily more interesting. Tre- 
mendous crowds of all classes, conditions, and denomina- 
tions are attracted to his services. The open-air meeting 
in front of the Capitol, on Sunday afternoon, at 6 o'clock, 
was the largest of the kind we have ever seen in Jackson. 
He preached a powerful sermon and was listened to with 
marked attention. In the evening, at 8 o'clock, he held 
forth in the Christian Chapel to a house overflowing with 
attentive and eager hsteners. Mr. Shaw is certainly a man 
of ability, of extraordinary musical powers, and his ser- 
vices are of such a character as to attract the attention of 
all classes. He will remain in this city for two or three 
days yet, and we would advise all who have not heard him 
yet, to do so without delay. '* 



KNOWLES SHAW. 16/ 

From Jackson the unwearied laborer returned 
home, and did a good work for the church at Colum- 
bus; and, adding some to its number, thence, on the 
29th of June, to West Point, Mississippi, where he 
labored for one week; and, after an interval of a few 
days, we find him at Saltillo, Mississippi, and, in a 
meeting of twelve days, had thirty-four additions. 
On the 27th of July he began a meeting at Hender- 
son, Tennessee, which continued one week ; thirteen 
added ; and on the 4th of August, another at Lynn- 
ville, Tennessee, of ten days; seventeen added. 

We next find him, after being one day at home, 
at Baldwyn, Mississippi, from August 17th to the 
29th; added six there; and was at Lawrenceburg, 
Indiana, on the ist of September; preached eighteen 
days, with but two additions. The next three days 
preached at three places : Mount Pleasant, Harrison, 
Ohio, and Rushville. Next preached four times in 
two days at Little Flat Rock, Indiana ; and, after five 
days at home, started for Mount Sterling, Kentucky, 
which he reached September 5th, and preached nearly 
three weeks, with twenty-one additions. After a 
single day's rest he began a meeting at Covington, 
Kentucky; had fine hearing, and twelve additions. 
A trip to his old home in Kansas gave him a few 
days of needed rest. He reached his home in Mis- 
sissippi on the 23d of November, and between that 
and the 17th of December delivered some fourteen 
vigorous discourses at home. The 8th of December 
is the only day in the year which I find devoted to 



1 68 LIFE OF 

recreation. His last meeting for the year was at 
Henderson, Tennessee, which did not terminate until 
after the close of the year. 

He preached four hundred and sixty-four times ; 
in the intervals between his sermons talked almost 
incessantly, made the personal acquaintance of a vast 
number of people, visited the sick, worked in the 
temperance cause as if that were his whole employ- 
ment, composed music, and sang a number of times 
every day, more indeed than if he had been a pro- 
fessional singer, and added to the churches at various 
points two hundred and twenty persons, nearly all of 
whom he baptized with his own hands. More than 
once at a single meeting he had more converts than 
during this entire year ; in one instance two hundred 
and twenty-six in a meeting of three weeks' duration. 
But even this year shows work such as but few men 
have been willing to undertake, and which still fewer 
have been able to accomplish. 

The next year, 1878, possesses a mournful interest. 
Before the half of it had passed this great toilers 
work was done. The first two days of the year 
were spent in a meeting at Henderson, Tennessee, 
and on the 3d of January he started for Paris, Ken- 
tucky. The meeting there continued nearly four 
weeks; large crowds came out to hear him. The 
daily entries in his diary show a very humble and 
prayerful spirit. There were two baptisms of spe- 
cial interest: one a little girl ten years of age, 
the other a man eighty-one years of age. During 



KNOWLES SHAW. I69 

the meeting a man was shot in a drinking Saloon, 
which caused him to say: **I feel more and more 
determined to fight. the demon intemperance, the 
chief foe of rehgion and morahty." Sixty-five addi- 
tions were the visible results of the meeting. 

He reached home on the 2d of February, and 
remained until March the 15th. During this time 
he inaugurated the *' Murphy" temperance move-' 
ment, amid great opposition and intense excitement. 
His lectures and songs were irresistible ; large crowds 
gathered wherever he spoke; the whole city was 
agitated, and in about six weeks nearly two thou- 
sand persons signed the pledge. He then preached 
a week at Madison, Mississippi, and went thence to 
Jackson, in the same State ; addressing great crowds 
during his stay. Here, he also started the temper- 
ance work, with gratifying results; as many as one 
hundred signing the pledge at a single meeting. 
On the 30th of March he visited Aberdeen, preached 
with success, and aroused the whole community on 
the temperance question, inducing many to sign. 

On the 13th of April he came home; which proved 
to be his last visit to his loved and dear ones. I call 
it a visit, because his arduous and abundant labors 
kept him away from his family by far the greater 
portion of his time. How he spent those few last 
days may be a matter of interest. Like all the rest 
of his time, they were spent in earnest efforts to do 
good. The following extracts from his diary tell of 
his endeavors and success : 



170 LIFE OF 

''Sunday, April 14 1878, 9 A. M. Sunday-school 
good. 10^ A. M., preached. Subject, 'Go Forward.' 
Stormy. 3 P. M., preached. Subject, 'State Privilege 
and Character.' (Romans viii. i.) 7^ P. M. Crowded 
house. Subject, 'Commission.' Two confessions ; grand. 

"Monday, isth, ^% P. M. Subject, 'True Road to 
Happiness.' One confession. 

"Tuesday, i6th, 4 P. M. Subject, Romans vi. 4. 
Baptized three persons. Same evening lectured on Tem- 
perance. Forty-seven signed the pledge. 

"Wednesday, 17th, 4 P. M. Subject, Romans v. i. 
Baptized one. 7^ P. M. Preached on 'The Power of 
God.' Good audience. 

Thursday, i8th, 7^^ P. M. Preached on 'Sufficiency 
of Revelation.' 

"Friday, 19th. Stormy. Preached on 'Zeal.' (2 
Corinthians ii. 3.) 

"Saturday, 20th. Preached 7^ P. M., on 'Election.' 

Sunday 21st. Sunday-school 9^ A. M. Preached at 
10^. Subject, 'Glad Tidings.' 3 P. M. Spoke on 
'Evils of Drunkenness.' Eleven signed the pledge. At 
7j^ P. M., preached on 'Freedom by the Truth.' Mon- 
day, 2 2d, 7j^ P. M. Preached. Subject, 'Moses' hands 
held up.' 

"Tuesday, 23d. Temperance meeting. 

" Wednesday, 24th. Preached. Subject, 'Christ our 
King.' 

"Sunday, 28th. Sunday-school at 9 A. M. Preached 
at 10% A. M. Subject, ' God revealed in Christ, and 
man reconciled to God. ' " 

This was the last Lord's Day with his home church 



KNOWLES SHAW. I/I 

and family. His theme in the morning was one 
which called forth all his powers, the glory of God 
as seen in Christ ; the fearful danger of man through 
sin, unless reconciled through Christ, seemed vividly 
present. He said: *'It is only in obedience to the 
divine law that man can reap the benefits from the 
life of love, and death-sacrifice of Christ. Indeed, 
no man can justly claim to be reconciled to God who 
is not wilHng to cease from his sin and yield his will 
and life to God ; for the evidence of reconciliation 
is — subjection to the law of God." He then set forth 
in the language of the Scriptures, and closed with 
an exhortation to be reconciled to God now, on the 
terms set forth in his truth. And then, as if the 
''dark event,'' not distant, ^'cast its shadow before/' 
he added: **I can not close this sermon till I thank 
you for your good wishes for my safety while away. 
How often will I think of you ! If I never live to 
get back, I feel pretty sure I'll go straight home to 
Jesus, by whom, twenty-four years ago, I was recon- 
ciled to God." Then, making a last appeal to the 
unconverted portion of his audience, he said: '*A11 
our days are fast passing away ; and oh, the thought 
of meeting God in the judgment, without reconcil- 
iation — an enemy ! To be banished for ever ! Hear 
the word of reconciliation now: 'O turn ye, turn 
ye, for why will you die?' The Savior calls, Mercy 
pleads, the Spirit woos, and the Father smiles, while 
all glory beams, and angels are ready to rejoice. 
Come, while you may,'^ 



172 LIFE OF 

One who was present says of the discourse: 
''Nothing I ever heard could exceed the pathos 
and tenderness of that sermon ; and so heart-aching 
is the memory of it, now that it is coupled with a 
mournful realization, almost makes me wish I had 
never heard it. The scene as now recalled was not 
unlike that when Paul parted from the church at 
Ephesus, when he told them that he would never 
return ; and they sorrowed most of all for the words 
he spake, that they should see his face no more.*' 
At 7>^ P. M., the same evening, he preached on 
the ** Fullness of Times.** One confession, seventy 
years old; the tenth one received of that age. 
Tuesday, 30th, 4 P. M. Subject, * ' Self-Examin- 
ation.** Immersed Mr. and Mrs. Chne. 8 P. M. 
Preached on ** Great Salvation.'* Six confessions. 
Wednesday, May ist, 4 P. M. Baptismal service. 
Preached on ** Harvest.** (Galatians vi. 7.) With 
this theme and the baptism of six converts, he closed 
his work at Columbus, and left the next day for 
Dallas, Texas, never to return. 



KNOWLES SHAW. I73 



CHAPTER XV, 



Brother Shaw's Last Meeting — His Last Day — An Account 

of the Wreck, 

A PECULIAR interest is connected with Brother 
Shaw's last meeting, an account of which has been 
prepared by Elder Kirk Baxter, who was the pastor 
of the church at Dallas at that time, and not only 
took part in the meeting, but was with him in the 
disaster by which his useful life was ended. He 
thus briefly tells the story : 

''ELDER KNOWLES SHAWS LAST MEETING. 

**The earthly labors of this gifted and successful 
evangelist terminated in a meeting of five weeks 
with the Commerce Street Christian Church, Dallas, 
Texas. Arrangements having been made with him 
a month before for a meeting, to commence on the 
4th of May, 1878, he arrived promptly at the time, 
direct from his home, Columbus, Mississippi. Several 
brethren met him at the depot, and conducted him 
to the residence of Brother L. D. Myers, one of 



174 i-iFE OF 

Brother Shaw's converts in Kansas, and a deacon of 
the church here. Quite a number had assembled at 
the house to greet him, although it was late at night. 
He soon was engaged in earnest conversation, and 
had a good word for all present. We spent an hour 
with him, and heard him sing some of his grand 
songs. The next morning (Lord's Day) a large 
audience greeted him in our new meeting-house. 
His first discourse was a grand effort on 'The Fur- 
therance of the Gospel.' All went away delighted 
with the preacher and his sermon. At night the 
house would not accommodate the people who 
thronged to hear him. His service of song, thirty 
minutes before each sermon, prepared the hearts of 
the people to receive the truth he had to present. 
Thus the meeting went on from day to day, com- 
mencing promptly at lo o'clock A. M., and 8 P. M., 
and I do not think that he varied a moment during 
the entire meeting. After he had preached several 
sermons he v/as asked what he thought as to the 
success of the meeting. His reply was: 'That de- 
pends very largely upon the work you have done ; 
the preparation you made before I came. To make 
the meeting a success we must all work, and work 
together. It is not my meeting, but ^^r meeting, 
and we must all do our part to make it what it ought 
to be, and what it willh^ if we do our duty.' His 
'morning talks,' as he called them, were intensely 
practical and heart-searching, and caused many a 
lukewarm Christian to tremble as he held up their 



KNOWLES SHAW. 175 

short-comings before them. In these 'talks* there 
were always two characteristics of this extraordinary 
man standing out prominently, namely, his devotion 
to the truth, and his courage in exposing sin wherever 
he found it. He made his audience feel that he was 
talking to them, and not to some imaginary crowd. 
He called evil, evil, and good, good ; and his whole 
effort was to bring his hearers up to a higher and 
better life. During the interval between the morn- 
ing and evening meetings he literally went every 
day from the pulpit to the street, to the work-shop, 
to the counting>room, to the by-ways and hedges, to 
all parts of the city, and would come to his work at 
night full of incidents and illustrations that he had 
gathered up in his rambles. He had a kind word 
for every one he met, and the result was that crowds 
came to hear him preach who never before had taken 
an interest in the gospel. I never saw a man who 
had such power over the people. Men who had not 
been in a church for ten or fifteen years came night 
after night. Members of other churches, who had 
been so prejudiced that they would not hear our 
people, came, and would say of the preaching, ' It 
is true ; it is just what the Bible teaches.* 

*'His work went on grandly in this way for five 
successive weeks, during which he received calls 
from various parts of the State to go and hold meet- 
ings; also some urgent calls from California. The 
interest increased to the last, and the immediate 
result was one hundred and twelve additions to the 



iy6 LIFE OF 

church. His last 'morning talk ' was on the death 
of Moses. He said he hoped that God would not 
permit him to outlive his usefulness ; that he wanted 
to die in the strength of manhood, with the harness 
on ; that if he could have his wish he would like to 
go from the pulpit to glory; but, if not, he wanted 
to die suddenly. 

**The last night of the meeting was peculiarly 
solemn and impressive. The house was crowded to 
overflowing, and many gathered outside to catch the 
last strain of song and hear his last words. His 
sermon was one of his grandest efforts. He then 
gave his farewell talk, which proved to be his last 
public utterance on earth. He said that we were 
soon to separate, never to meet on earth; that we 
knew not who would be taken first ; it may be my- 
self, it may be your beloved pastor; God alone 
knows. Some of us may be dead in less than twenty- 
four hours. His closing remarks were beautiful^ — 
his charge to the preacher, officers and members, to 
the young converts, to the world — indeed, to all 
present, for he forgot no one — was deeply impress- 
ive. Finally, he asked forgiveness, if in his zeal 
for the truth, he had wounded the feelings of any 
one, and, kneeling down, he offered one of the most 
beautiful and touching prayers that I ever heard. 
He then sang the following song: 

*When my final farewell to the world I have said, 
And gladly lie down to my rest : 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 7/ 

When softly the watchers shall say, ' He is dead/ 
And fold my pale hands o'er my breast; 

And when, with my glorified vision at last 
The walls of ' that city ' I see. 

Will any one then at the beautiful gate 
Be waiting and watching for me ? 

*^ There are little ones glancing about in my path, 

In want of a friend and a guide : 
There are dear Httle eyes looking up into mine, 

Whose tears might be easily dried ; 
But Jesus may beckon the children away 

In the midst of their grief and their glee — 
Will any one, then, at the beautiful gate, 

Be waiting and watching for me ? 

*' There are old and forsaken who linger awhile 

In homes which their dearest have left ; 
And a few gentle words or an action of love 

May cheer their sad spirits bereft. 
But the Reaper is near to the long-standing corn. 

The weary will soon be set free — 
Will any one then at the beautiful gate 

Be waiting and watching for me ? 

**0h, should I be brought there by the bountiful grace 

Of Him who delights to forgive : 
Though I bless not the weary about on my path, 

Pray only for self while I live, 
Methinks I should mourn o'er my sinful neglect, 

If sorrow in heaven could be ; 
Should no one I love at the beautiful gate 

Be waiting and watching for me ?" 
12 



178 LIFE OF 

After this, the audience then nearly all weeping, 
were dismissed, yet they lingered to take him once 
more by the hand, and receive from him a warm 
**God bless you/' The last farewell was said, and 
the noble worker's work was done. 

From the same hand we have an account of Brother 
Shaw's last day, and tragical death. He writes: 

*' Cleburne, Texas, June 7, 1879. 
^^ Dear Brother: — Just one year ago, to-day, Brother 
Shaw was killed. During his last meeting among the 
numerous calls to labor at other places, was one from 
the church at McKinney, which sent a delegation to urge 
him to visit there, if only for a few days. He replied, 
* As that is one of Brother Baxter's points of labor, I will 
go.' His meeting at Dallas closed on the night of the 
6th of June. That night he spent at Brother Dr. John- 
ston's. He telegraphed to the church at McKinney, that 
he and I would be there the next day. Early the next 
morning there was a tremendous rain-fall, lasting two or 
three hours. The brethren tried to prevail on him not to 
go to McKinney that morning, urging that the weather 
was so unfavorable that he could not have a meeting if he 
went, and insisted that he should remain in Dallas that 
day and rest. He replied, ' No ; we have telegraphed 
the brethren we would be there, and we must go; that 
tliere was no time for rest now ; rest would come by and 
by.' I met him at the depot about seven o'clock that 
morning, as lively and cheerful as I ever had seen him. 
He had bought his ticket and was ready to start. We 
took a seat in the car, and, in a few moments, were off. 
We conversed a few moments in regard to the work at 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1/9 

McKinney. He then took up the morning paper and 
looked through it. While thus engaged, I left him, and 
went forward to the front of the car, and was about to 
pass out to the coach ahead, when some one called me by- 
name. I turned, and saw a Methodist minister, Mr. Mal- 
loy, whom I had known years before in Arkansas. I sat 
down by him, and spent some time in conversation. He 
asked me about our meeting in Dallas, and Brother Shaw. 
I told him that Mr. Shaw was on the train, and just at 
that moment caught his eye, and beckoned to him, and 
he came to where we were seated. I introduced him to 
Rev. Mr. Malloy, and gave him my seat, and took the 
next one. Mr. Malloy asked him to tell him the secret 
of his success in protracted meetings, which Brother Shaw 
proceeded to do in a very earnest manner, saying he 
depended much on the power of song ; preached Christ ; 
always kept Jesus before the people ; made them feel that 
they were sinners, and needed just such a Savior as he 
preached; that he never became discouraged; had con- 
fidence in the gospel truth as the power of God ; that he 
loved his work, and became wholly absorbed in it ; and 
added : * Oh, it is a grand thing to rally people to the Cross 
of Christ. ' At that moment, I turned to see if we were in 
sight of McKinney, and I felt the car was off the track, 
bouncing over the ties. I did not feel in any danger; 
did not know that we were on an embankment, and ex- 
pected that we would check up in a moment or two. I 
saw Brother Shaw rise from his seat, and realized at once 
that the car was going over. Not a word was spoken. I 
saw Brother Shaw alive no more. All became as dark as 
night. When I came to myself, the coach was at the 
bottom of the embankment, and I was its only occupant. 



l80 LIFE OF 

I looked round, but all were gone. When I got out, I 
saw the passengers on the railroad track above me, and 
made my way up to them. The first one I met was Mr. 
Malloy, with whom Brother Siiaw was seated at the time 
of the accident. I said to him, * Have you seen Brother 
Shaw.' ^No,' said he, *I fear he is under the wreck; 
but he saved my life by pushing me from the position in 
which he himself fell.' I waited to hear no more, but 
ran down to the wreck, looked in, and saw a man's hand 
pointing upward out of the water. It was Brother Shaw's 
hand. I called for help, and in about fifteen minutes he 
was taken lifeless from the water. Portions of the wreck 
had to be cut away with an ax before the body could be 
reached and removed. I had the body placed in the 
baggage-car, which had not been thrown from the track, 
and sent to McKinney, where it was taken charge of by 
the brethren and placed in the church. I sent a telegram 
to Dallas, telling the sad news. In a short time a deep 
gloom pervaded the whole city, as from house to house 
passed the sad words, 'Brother Shaw is dead.' Quite a 
number were injured by the accident; some very severely. 
My own injuries were of a serious nature, much more so 
than I at first supposed. Such was Brother Shaw's last 
day on earth. Kirk Baxter." 

The Dallas papers, of June the 8th, give the fol- 
lowing account of the wreck : 

**A disastrous accident to the north-bound passenger 
train, on the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, oc- 
curred about two miles south of McKinney, at a quarter 
past nine o'clock yesterday morning, which was attended 
with death and destruction. 



KNOWLES SHAW. l8l 

' ^ The train consisted of engine, baggage and mail car, 
two passenger coaches, and a sleeper, and was running at 
usual speed. Arriving at the point designated, which was 
on an embankment about forty feet high, and near Wil- 
son's Creek, a broken rail precipitated the rear coach 
and the sleeper down the embankment, and completely- 
wrecked that part of the train. All the other parts ran 
over the break in the road, and were not materially dam- 
aged. The first news received of the accident was a tele- 
gram to Captain C. M. Wheat from Elder Kirk Baxter, 
pastor of the Christian Church here, breaking the start- 
ling intelligence, that Elder Knowles Shaw, who was in 
company with him aboard the train, was killed outright, 
and requesting him to come up at once. 

'* A number of telegrams were sent and received dur- 
ing the morning, yet the answers received were rather 
vague and contradictory. Throughout the day there was 
great anxiety felt in this city, as a majority of the passen- 
gers had friends here who were desirous of knowing the 
fate of the passengers after the first news of the accident 
had been confirmed. 

**The very latest and fullest account, both by telegraph 
and from reporters detailed to go to the scene of the acci- 
dent, is to the effect that there were in all twenty -seven 
persons more or less wounded, and one killed. Of the 
wounded, the following names are those who were at 
McKinney, at the American House, late yesterday even- 
ing; the others having gone north on the train which 
went on to its destination in an hour or so after the 
accident. Those whose names do not appear in the list 
of wounded, received slight bruises only. 



1 82 LIFE OF 

^^ WOUNDED. 

*'Rev. George W. Henry, of Denison, severely about 
the head. 

^'Mrs. Aggie, wife of G. W. Henry, severely about 
the head. 

^'Miss Katie Henry, slightly. 

'^G. W. Henry, Jr., slightly. 

'^Miss Carry Spooner, of Denison, about the head, 
slightly. 

*^Miss Augusta Stidman, deaf mute, from asylum at 
Austin, slightly. 

*^Rev. J. T. Miller, of Ennis, severely. 

** Albert Billings, sleeping-car porter, sligh'tly. 

*^ Elder Kirk Baxter, of Dallas, about the head and 
chest, dangerously. 

** George Mountcastle, postmaster at Allen, dangerously. 

^*S. C. Anderson, employe of R. V. Tompkins, Dal- 
las, slightly. 

^'Conductor Lasher, rib broken and some slight bruises. 

^'Rev. W. L. Malloy, of Sherman, slightly. 

^^Some one, name unknown, from Mineola, slightly. 

*' KILLED. 

**No one was killed but Elder Knowles Shaw, of Mis- 
sissippi. Mr. Shaw arrived here on the 4th day of May 
last, under an engagement of the Commerce Street Chris- 
tian Church to conduct a revival, which was continued 
thirty-three days and nights, during which time he de- 
livered sixty-six discourses. The result of his efforts was 
one hundred and eleven additional members to the church. 

^^From a prominent member of the Christian Church 
of this city, it is learned that Mr. Shaw was born in the 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 83 

State of Ohio, iii 1834, and, at an early age, moved to 
Indiana. Shortly after, his father died and left him at 
the head of the family. At the age of seventeen years 
he joined the Christian Church, shortly after which he 
began preaching; and, if he had lived until the ist day 
of next January, he would have been preaching twenty- 
one years. The past fifteen years of his life have been 
spent as an evangelist, and in supporting and helping 
various churches. At the age of twenty-three years, he 
married a Miss Finley, of Virginia, and continued to 
reside in Indiana up to a short time ago, when he moved 
to Columbus, Mississippi. He leaves a wife and two 
children ~ a young lady about nineteen years old, and a 
youth about sixteen years old. He was very successful as 
a revivalist; and had attained some notoriety in the North- 
ern and Western States for his success in this line, and for 
his compilation of Sunday-school songs. 

* ' Mr. Shaw, at the time of tbe accident, was sitting in 
the passenger coach talking with Rev. Mr. Malloy, to 
whom he was introduced a short time before by Elder 
Baxter. Mr. Malloy says Mr. Shaw saved his (Malloy' s) 
life by grabbing him and pushing him away from the posi- 
tion in which he fell himself. Mr. Shaw's right arm was 
broken in two or three places ; there is a severe cut on 
top of his head, one on the forehead, slightly on the nose, 
and his lower limbs were badly mangled and his neck 
broken. 

** Elder Baxter, when he came to the car, looked for 
Mr. Shaw, and found him entangled in the wreck, and 
partly covered with water. It took fifteen minutes to 
extricate his body by cutting around it with an ax. His 
body was taken care of by friends at McKinney, where it 



184 LIFE OF 

was washed and dressed, and laid out in a handsome 
coffin. It was brought to this city last evening, where 
it was taken to Willett & Smith's and embalmed. It 
will be kept here av/aiting orders from his family as to 
its disposition. 

* * He kept a register of the number of those converted 
under his ministrations, which, in round numbers, is over 
eleven thousand. 

^ ^ Night before last, he preached his farewell sermon 
to the congregation of the Commerce Street Christian 
Church, of this city; and, when killed, was on his way 
to McKinney to hold a protracted meeting. The news of 
his death was a severe blow to his many friends in this 
city, as he was held in high esteem by all who knew him. 

* * The train, at the time of the accident, was on a curve, 
and about three hundred yards south of the bridge over 
the creek. The passenger coach turned over twice, and 
is now bottom upwards in a ditch, and a complete wreck. 
The sleeper turned over twice, and is lying on one side. 
Most of the passengers were in the coach. 

*' A party of thirty went to care for the wounded. Drs. 
Hughes, Leak, Graham, Johnson, and Allen, all of this 
city, did effective service in alleviating the suffering of the 
wounded.'' 

Thus perished, in the prime of life and in the 
midst of his usefulness, our beloved brother ; and 
we feel quite safe in saying that no death among 
our brotherhood ever called forth profounder grief. 
He was at the time of his death within four months 
of being forty-four years of age, with a vigorous 
constitution, the full and free use of all his powers, 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 85 

a rich experience, and, if possible, with a greater 
desire than ever for the salvation of his fellow-men. 

The funeral rites were of a peculiarly solemn char- 
acter. Memorial services were held in several States. 
Various bodies, benevolent and religious, united in 
expressing their admiration of his work and worth, 
and sorrow for his loss. His last words: '*Oh, it is 
a grand thing to rally the people to the Cross of 
Christ," became the motto of many a tender speech, 
many a touching poem, many a stirring song. 

A volume might be filled with the varied tributes 
to his memory, but want of space forbids more than 
an abridged account of the funeral services, and a 
flower gathered here and there from the wreaths 
of eloquence and song which love and friendship 
strewed upon his grave. 



1 86 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XVL 



Funeral Services at Dallas — Closing Services ^ and Burial at 

Rushville^ Indiana, 

From McKinney, as already stated, the remains 
of the departed one were taken to Dallas, and placed 
in the church, where he had but a short time before 
so earnestly and successfully labored. On the next 
day (Lord's Day), June the 9th, the funeral services 
took place, which were noticed as follows in the city 
papers : 

'*THE LAST RITES. 

*' FUNERAL SERVICES OF MR. SHAW, SUNDAY MORNING. 

AN IMMENSE CONCOURSE PAY TRIBUTE TO HIS 

MEMORY. 

*' As early as nine o'clock Sunday morning people began 
to gather within the building where lay all that was earthly 
of the dead evangelist. The casket was profusely deco- 
rated with odorous flowers, while scattered upon the floor 
beneath it were immense bunches of incense -breathing 
roses, geraniums, honeysuckles, and clippings from the 
rarest gardens in the city. On the stand, in the rear, a 
dozen or more vessels, filled with beautiful plants and 
evergreens, were tastefully arranged. Crosses, anchors, 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 8/ 

and other elegantly worked floral designs were strewn 
upon the lid of the coffin; but none were there more 
elegant than the crown of roses brought by Mrs. Dr. A. 
A. Johnston. This was placed near the head, and an 
open Bible was rested against it. In a line of green letters 
above the altar, was, ' Fell at his post, ' underneath which 
were three large pictures of the deceased ; and below the , 
largest — the center picture — was a placard containing his \ 
last words: * It is a grand thing to rally people to the 
Cross of Christ.' 

**As the minutes sped on, the crowd continued to 
gather in great numbers, until the large audience-room 
was packed to its utmost. Chairs were placed in the 
aisles, and still the immense congregation could not be 
accommodated. A little before eleven o'clock, Mr. 
Smith, the organist, took his position at the instrument, 
and began to send out upon the air, in low and solemn 
cadence, that sweetest of all sounds in music, ^ Home, 
Sweet Home.' As the mournful strains of the voluntary 
rose, gathered, and fell, the vast audience seemed to real- 
ize indeed the full force of the occasion, and strong men 
wept. Rarely has a more affecting scene been witnessed 
than that which marked the exercises at this time. 

*^At eleven o'clock. Elder J. T. Ely, of Knoxville, 
Iowa, ascended the platform, and began the opening 
service by reading the fifteenth chapter of First Corin- 
thians. The opening song, to music of Mr. Shaw's own 
composition, was : ' If Lord, thou callest me ; ' and, as 
the organ pealed forth the solemn notes, full many an eye 
was wet with weeping, and tears of sympathy rolled down 
the cheeks of strangers as well as those who knew and 
loved him well. 



l88 LIFE OF • 

^^ Prayer was then offered by Dr. Armstrong, of the 
Tabernacle. His appeal in behalf of the absent wife and 
bereaved children was a tearful offering of love and af- 
fection. Eloquently, simple, and tenderly pathetic, his 
words fell with soft and soothing force upon all who heard 
them. Another of Mr. Shaw's songs — ' Beyond the dark 
sea' — was then rendered, and Mr. Bly delivered the 
funeral discourse. 

^ ^ This effort, delivered under trying circumstances, was 
a masterly one ; and when we give a skeleton of it this 
morning, we feel that, in doing so, we do neither the 
speaker nor the occasion justice. It should have been 
heard to be appreciated. 

'* The text was chosen from Acts xxvi. 8 : ' Why should 
it seem a thing incredible with you that God should raise 
the dead?' His subject was ' The Credibility of the Resur- 
rection.' He announced that with the resurrection the 
claims of Jesus and the Bible stand or fall. It is at the 
door of the sepulcher that hope lingers with the inquiry : 
' Is he here ?' The angel and the empty tomb echo back, 
' Not here ; He is risen. ' God, in the nature of things, 
made no provision for sin. Therefore, the nature of things 
can furnish no remedy for sin and its consequences. Sci- 
ence can only discover the difficulty. The herald note of 
the gospel — the 'so loved ^ is the overture — the arbitrary 
divine intervention that brings to man the remedy. The 
revelation of Jesus the Christ is the solution of the great 
problem of hfe and happiness. In Him we have the 
complete harmonization of God and man; therefore the 
unalterable conditions of life endless and happiness unal- 
loyed. While Nature and Science walk hand in hand, the 
revelation of the crucified and risen Savior calls for faith. 



KNOWLES SHAW 1 89 

'* The resurrection is credible— 

*^ ist. God is able to raise the dead. 

** 2d. The happy result of this revelation upon the lips 
and character of the laborer, bears testimony, calling out 
the nobler faculties of his being — faith, hope, and love — 
assimilating him to the divine character. 

^*3d. The responsiveness of the resurrection bears tes- 
timony — 

"^. It responds to man's desire for life. Job's ques- 
tion, ^If a man die, shall he live again ?' is a living ques- 
tion. The vacated tomb says, ^ he shall live again.'* 

''b. It represents the Christian's hope of immortality. 
As the divine nature has permeated his spiritual nature, 
and molded him into the likeness* of the character of the 
Savior ; so in the resurrection shall he be permeated en- 
tire—made incorruptible. It responds to the Christian's 
aspirations for happiness. Having an approved character, 
an incorruptible body, he is fitted for happiness to the 
utmost of his possibilities. 

*'The denial of the resurrection — 

** ist. Ignores the Bible as a revelation from God. 

*'2d. Converts the mission of Christ into the arch 
deception of the world. The devil appeals to our carnal 
nature and promises reward here. Jesus appeals to our 
spiritual nature and promises eternal reward. If he did not 
rise again, he has out-generaled the devil as a deceiver. 

^*3d. Involves the testimony of history. The name 
Jesus is the great historic name of literature — in Christian 
literature the greatest. Of Christian civilization — the best 
ever known in the world's history. 

*' CONCLUSION. 

**The denial of the resurrection closes the gates of im- 



IpO LIFE OF 

mortality, and the grave of the eternal Sleeper, and re- 
duces man's existence to a monstrosity. Has God mocked 
man by imbuing in his nature the conditions to infinite 
possibilities and aspirations, equal in their measure with- 
out any conditions whatever of their realization? *Now, 
is Christ risen from the dead?' This is our hope. 

** Brother Shaw's work of faith and labor of love closed 
with the Dallas meeting. We can pass no higher eulogy 
upon him than to say he needs none. He will ever stand 
before us in the bold outlines of an earnest devoted life. 
And while his cold inanimate form lies before us in the 
stillness of death, we are reminded that the echoes of his 
warning voice will not die away until they find rest on the 
farther shores of time. His work will go on. Such a 
life of faith is reproductive. Among the thousands who 
have responded to his earnest appeals, many will catch 
the gospel strain and send it along down the ages. The 
fact of his untimely death will but intensify that sense of 
responsibility that underlies every successful Christian life. 
How inexplicable that one of such rare combination should 
be called from labor to rest at noontide ! May our kind 
Father, whose providential ways are beyond our view, 
overrule this sad dispensation to the future and greater 
good of those left behind. 

* * After the delivery of the funeral discourse, Mr. Arm- 
strong succeeded Mr. Bly ; and, as the tender utterances fell 
from his lips, the congregation was again moved to tears. 

*^Mr. Wheat, after making a short address, proposed 
that the congregation should kneel in a prayer of thankful- 
ness that their pastor. Elder Kirk Baxter, who was with 
Mr. Shaw the day of the fearful disaster, was spared to 
them. In this prayer Mr. Armstrong led. 



KNOWLES SHAW. I9I 

**Mr. Baxter, who was present, but who had to be 
assisted into the church— the bruises on whose head and 
left eye were plainly discernible to those in the remotest 
seats in the church — was requested to tell the congrega- 
how the terrible accident happened. This he did in tones 
that told he was suffering mental anguish as well as endur- 
ing physical pain; but as the account of the wreck has 
hitherto been published in these columns, we will not re- 
produce it. 

** Over the cold body of Mr. Shaw an appeal was made 
to sinners to turn to God, and four came forward and 
united themselves with the church. The hymn, * Fallen 
on Zion^s Battle Field — a Soldier of Renown,' was sung 
in conclusion of the services. After the audience was 
dismissed, a large number of persons pressed forward to 
view the body. 

*'The remains continued to lie in state in the church 
until yesterday morning; when, attended by weeping 
friends, they were taken to the depot, and sent, on the 
7:20 train, under care of Mr. L. D. Myers, to Rushville, 
Indiana, for burial. So has gone out of life a noble man 
of God— a gallant warrior from the host of Israel. '^ 

During Brother Shaw's meeting at Dallas, in one 
of his sermons, he said: **If I should die while I 
am here, I want you to send my body to Rushville, 
Indiana, for burial/' His request was complied 
with, as above stated ; and Brother L. D. Myers, 
who attended to this kind yet sad office, tells, in the 
following letter to the Christian Standard^ how his 
mournful mission was discharged : 

^^ Dear Brother Errett : — I returned home from my 



192 LIFE OF 

sorrowlul trip to Rushville, Indiana, with the remains of 
Brother Shaw, last Thursday. I arrived in Rushville 9n 
Wednesday, 12th inst, about nine A. M., and found a 
large assembly of sorrowing friends and relatives of our 
good brother who met me at the depot. His poor old 
mother was there, heart-broken, as is perfectly natural, to 
have so dutiful and worthy a son brought home under 
such circumstances. But she said, only a few short years 
and she would join him in the bright beyond. 

** His wife, son, and daughter did not arrive for a few 
hours, having missed connection at Cincinnati. They, 
too, came with sorrowful hearts; but Sister Shaw was 
more resigned than I expected to find her. She is a 
strong-minded, sensible woman, and seemed to be equal 
to the emergency. For years she has been expecting 
something of the kind to happen ; as he lived, when not 
in the church house, on the rail. She had almost 
given him up; or, in other words, he belonged to the 
church and people. He was always in a meeting. When 
away from home, engaged in meetings (which was nearly 
all the time), he delivered two sermons per day, three on 
Lord^s days, besides two singing rehearsals per day of 
one-half to one hour each. Then, when he returned 
home, he entered the pulpit and continued in one grand 
protracted meeting until called to another point. Re- 
markable man, never satisfied only when singing or 
preaching the everlasting gospel of Christ. 

^' Last winter, while I was corresponding with him with 
reference to the meeting just ended, I received a postal 
card from him, urging the members here to hold a prayer 
service for a week or ten days prior to the meeting, so 
that when he came he might begin at once, and not have 



KNOWLES SHAW. I93 

to work a week to commence. Said he, I have no fears 
of converts if members are aroused to do their duty, wind- 
ing up the postal-card thus : 

** ' Yours with great sticktoitiveness and neverletgoitiveness,'* 

^^'K. Shaw.' 

''From about eight years' acquaintance with him, I 
thought that combination of words gave a free expression 
of the man and his hfe. But, will return to the narrative 
of my trip. Thursday, 13th instant, was set for funeral 
service. The day at hand, it was soon discovered that no 
building would hold the people; so the remains were 
taken to Court-house Square. The crowd that gathered 
there I did not hear estimated, but it was the largest I ever 
witnessed on a similar occasion. The services were con- 
ducted by Brother J. M. Conner. Brother L. H. Jame- 
son, of Indianapolis — that good old veteran in the cause 
of Christ — delivered the memorial discourse, in which he 
stated that he was preaching four years before Brother 
Shaw was born ; had known him from boyhood ; had been 
for years side by side with him in the grand work. One 
feature of his life he wished to emphasize : ' That in all his 
(Brother Shaw's) intercourse with men and women, since 
he entered the ministry, not one charge was ever brought 
against his character.' The speaker continued, 'What a 
pattern for his co-laborers left behind to follow ! ' Some 
twenty or more preachers were present, among whom I 
noticed Brothers J. M. Conner, L. H. Jameson, James 
Conner, Jr., J. W. Conner, H. R. Pritchard, Jacob Dau- 
benspeck, E. L. Frazee, D. L. Thomas (son of Brother 
George Thomas, who immersed Brother Shaw), Walter S. 
Campbell, Jacob Blount, Dr. Jas. Orr, J. W. Ferrell, L. 
D. McGowen, N. Marlott, Methodist Episcopal, Mr. 
13 



194 LIFE OF 

Hutchinson, United Presbyterian. Nearly all had some- 
thing to say, praising the life and good work of the man 
whose lifeless form lay silent before them. 

*'The H. & T. C. Railroad granted passes to Sedalia, 
Missouri, and return. There I was met by Brother Rag- 
land, the pastor at Sedalia, and the elders, who rendered 
assistance to St. Louis. There I was met by Brothers 
Garrison, Burns, and Renshaw, who rendered valuable 
assistance to Indianapolis. Thanks to them, also to the 
brethren at Rushville and Big Flat Rock, in Rush County, 
for contributions to help defray expense of the journey. 
Funeral over, I remained with Brother Shaw's family until 
Monday morning. Came to Indianapolis; spent after- 
noon and night with Brother Jameson. Next day came 
to St. Louis ; spent a few happy hours with Brother Gar- 
rison and family. At 9:15 started for home; arrived on 
Thursday; found Brother Baxter still suffering in mind 
and body, but he thinks he will recover. Thursday night 
went to prayer-meeting at Commerce Street Church, where 
Brother Shaw had so recently held such a good meeting. 
It was the largest and most interesting prayer-meeting I 
ever attended — some of the young converts praying and 
exhorting in public. Four additions to the church since 
the meeting. Thus the evangelistic work of our lamented 
brother goes on. Though dead, his life is before us ; and 
his works, like bread cast upon waters, will be seen many, 
many days hence. Am trespassing upon your columns, 
but the request of many brethren and friends, urging me 
to report through the Standard^ is the only apology I have 
for troubling your columns. 

^^ Your brother in Christ, 

''Dallas, Texas, June 25. L. D. Myers.'' 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 95 

The following account of the final funeral services 
Is taken from the Rushville Republican : 

''Memorial Service at the Court-house Park, 
Tuesday, June 13TH, 1878. 

'*At half-past ten o'clock there assembled about 
two thousand citizens of Rush County, in the Court- 
house Park, to engage in memorial services to the 
memory of Elder Knowles Shaw ; and the deep so- 
lemnity which pervaded the vast assembly, and the 
sympathy expressed, indicated how highly the de- 
ceased was loved and esteemed. No accident has 
ever happened to a citizen of Rush County that has 
so filled the hearts of the people with sorrow and 
sadness as this one. The friends erected a plat- 
form and temporary seats for about fifteen hundred 
persons. Immediately in front of the platform was 
a catafalque, which was handsomely decorated with 
flowers and evergreens. At the head was a life-size 
portrait of the deceased, and near it a card framed 
in evergreen, upon which was printed the last words 
of Knowles Shaw: 'It is a grand thing to rally peo- 
ple to the Cross of Christ.' The casket was very 
handsomely decorated with flowers and evergreens, 
among which we noticed a cross of white roses, an 
anchor of evergreens and flowers, a beautiful wreath 
of magnolia blossoms from the Sunny South, fur- 
nished by Miss Lenora Norris, besides numerous 
other floral decorations from other loving friends. 
The exercises began with a duet, 'Only a Little 



196 LIFE OF 

While/ composed by the deceased, and sung by 
the Misses Norris. The manner in which it was 
rendered, and the sentiment of the song, left not a 
dry eye in the vast audience. Following this was 
the reading of various appropriate passages of Scrip- 
ture by Elder D. L. Thomas ; then a hymn by a very 
large choir, improvised for the occasion, and consist- 
ing of persons from the various churches. Dr. Orr, 
of Andersonville, followed, with an eloquent prayer. 
Elder J. W. Conner, of Crawfordsville, recently of 
Rushville, acted as officiating minister. Short eulo- 
gies were then pronounced upon the life and char- 
acter of the deceased by Elders J. W. Conner, of 
Crawfordsville; L. H. Jameson, of Indianapolis; 
Jacob Daubenspeck, of Rush County; Walter S. 
Campbell, of Fairview; Rev. A. N. Marlatt, pastor 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Rushville, and 
L. D. Myers, Esq., of Dallas, Texas. The exercises 
at the Park closed with a song from * Pure Gold ' 
by the choir, entitled * One by One we Gather,' 
when the funeral cortege proceeded to East Hill 
Cemetery, where the remains were buried. Eight 
ministers acted as pall-bearers. 

**So ended the last rites in memory of one who 
was dearly loved by all who knew him, and who, 
while in life, labored for the elevation of his race 
with untiring energy and zeal, and was stricken 
down in the midst of his usefulness and labor. 
Surely of such an one we can say, 'Death is the 
crown of life.' '' 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 97 



CHAPTER XVII. 



Difference Between Our Judgments Concerning the Living and 
the Dead — Memorial Service at Columbus ^ Mississippi, 

In the course of our narrative we have introduced 
the various opinions entertained of Brother Shaw 
while Hving — most of them just, no doubt, but some 
perhaps giving undue prominence to pecuHarities 
which the writers would have regarded as unpardon- 
able in themselves, but which formed an inseparable 
part of Brother Shaw's character, and may have in 
some degree contributed to his success. Many good 
preachers are unable to tell an anecdote in a manner 
acceptable to their hearers, while others can employ 
them in a way to give great point and force to 
their arguments; and very few are able to interject 
a moving song into their addresses. Both these 
Brother Shaw could do with admirable effect. In 
fact, the song and apt illustration were often the 
strong points of the sermon, making it far more 
effective than it could possibly have been had these 
been wanting. It was these that tipped the arrows 
of truth, as with flame, and feathered them so that 



198 LIFE OF 

they flew swiftly and surely until they hung quiver- 
ing in the stricken heart. While living his methods 
occupied more attention than his work; since he 
has gone his work claims more of our attention than 
his methods; and in view of that work, finished, 
alas ! too soon, much criticism, which in life seemed 
just, is disarmed ; and there are few who would not 
be willing to subject themselves to criticism, far 
severer than he ever encountered, could they but 
leave a tithe of such blessed results behind. As 
winter's snow covers dead leaves, barren meadows, 
trunks of fallen trees, rough ravines, and unsightly 
ruts, in its stainless winding-sheet, so death hides all 
but the great outline of life, and leaves but the 
memory of that which is truest and best in the lives 
of those we shall see on earth no more. 

Memorial services in honor of the dead evangelist 
were held at various places, where in life he had 
labored ; but one service, held at Columbus, Missis- 
sippi, his home for some time preceding his death, 
will be found to be of peculiar interest. This meet- 
ing was held in the Christian Church, on the 14th of 
June, about one week after his tragical end, and was 
participated in by the ministers of the different 
churches, and other prominent personages. The 
Rev. Dr. Franklin was chairman of the meeting. 
The proceedings were in the following order: 



KNOWLES SHAW. 1 99 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 

Dr. Curtis said: 

'^Responsive to the invitation of my church, I offer its 
humble tribute to the solemn services of this occasion. 
We come to strew flowers upon the tomb of our friend 
and brother; and to enter the Parthenon of the heart's 
best affections for oblations worthy of his memory. But 
the garlands which we bring, all blooming and fragrant 
with evergreen enamehngs, are but silent symbols of heart- 
swelling emotion that disdains the literature of speech. 
Such expressions, when language was impoverished and 
bankrupted for utterance, have distinguished civilized man 
in all ages, and under all forms of society. The Cecrops, 
the Mausoleum, the Taj Mahal, and Caecilia Mettela, were 
but so many silent tombs men erected to perpetuate the 
memory of the noble and venerated dead. 

''And the pathway of Time is strewed with the debris 
of shattered and exfoliating monuments to d^ad styles of 
thought, dead forms of taste, of art, and literature, as 
well as dead heroes and distinguished dead men. There 
they stand and lie, magnificent in their ruins, in Torso 
beauty, but with the silent eloquence of the Elgin collec- 
tion—types of eternal beauty. 

"So our monumental meeting to-night, to do honor to 
the memory of Elder Knowles Shaw, is more to manifest 
what we feel, than to essay the formulation of that feeling 
in words. We would rather invoke the expressiveness 
and dignity of silence to declare his merits and avouch 
our grief. 



200 LIFE OF 

'^ Elder Shaw, the inaugurator of the ^Murphy Move- 
ment ' in our midst, and so beneficent in its results, is no 
more. His life-work is concluded, and the fruitage of 
nearly two years' of laborious efforts to meliorate the con- 
dition of man, and to promote the honor of God, is with 
us, as a rich and glorious legacy ; and, though dead, and 
his ministries of love — in preaching, exhorting, singing, 
and praying with us— -is lost to us forever, and the ex- 
ample of his pure and upright life is taken from us ; yet 
in affection and in memory he is with us, and, as Abel 
from the slumbrous past speaks to the Christian heart, so 
Knowles Shaw speaks to us. 

^^He was ever prompt in duty, earnest in action, zeal- 
ous in the advocacy of truth, and pure in motive. He 
was rather a peculiar man, of undoubted genius, of won- 
derful memory, of boundless energy, and a faculty of 
hopefulness that threw an inspirational glamour over all 
the landscape of life, lighting it up with electric and poetic 
beauty. The very clouds of adversity all had bright silver 
linings to him. The normal condition of his being was 
that of happiness; and the boon he so much enjoyed him- 
self, and which was as if his * spirit was lapped in Elysium,' 
he desired all others to share ; and, hence, becoming the 
center of a magic circle of social happiness, he diffused a 
paradise of pleasure wherever he was. The spell was en- 
chantment; the fruitage, fruition. 

^^His powers were all bent in the direction of virtue 
and unselfishness. He lived not for himself, but pre- 
eminently for others. He worked and talked and moved 
as one conscious of the obligation of existence, and appre- 
hensive that life was too short to accomplish all of duty, 
and that what was to be done must be done quickly. His 



KNOWLES SHAW. 201 

life was really an idyl — a poem of unselfish goodness and 
earnest usefulness. May we imitate his many virtues, 
emulate his noble zeal, and have embalmed in our hearts 
the forms of beauty and goodness that chastened and dis- 
tinguished his valuable life. And, as no force is ever 
destroyed, as no thought ever dies, let us not despond or 
grow weary in the good work he begun. It will go on. 
It is the fiat of destiny. Let us assist in its progress and 
development. 

* ^ And now, let us comfort our hearts in this very sad 
bereavement. The good are not only blessed in the 
transition of death, which is a mere change in the mode 
of being, but ^ they rest from their labors, and their works 
do follow them.' As the sweetness of the perished rose 
lingers in the atmosphere around the parent stem, so do 
the labors and virtues of the dead exhale from the very 
tomb the freshness and fragrance of unsullied lives. The 
treasures of thought and learning conserved from the 
ravages of time in parchments, manuscripts, and books, 
in painting, sculpture, and architecture, are but a legacy 
bequeathed to us from preceding ages and generations of 
men for our use and happiness; and to be faithfully trans- 
mitted, unimpaired and improved, to succeeding genera- 
tions. So of individual worth and merit. Everything in 
this world is fragmentary. One generation, and one indi- 
vidual, accomplish only so much, and another takes up 
the unfinished work and carries it on ; and thus the cause 
of civilization and progress, as the cause of virtue, are 
carried forward, and the noblest ends of destiny achieved. 

^^Knowles Shaw lives again in his teaching, in his 
example, and in the magnetic force left behind him. 
Death is but an episode in life ; and, in the graceful style 



202 LIFE OF 

of one of the South's brightest sons, * the limits even of 
time are overstepped, and the threads broken by death are 
woven in a new fabric beyond the stars. Not until the 
vast tapestry is unrolled before us in the pavilion of 
eternity itself, and the constituent figures are seen to be 
inwrought with an exquisite unity of design, shall we be 
able to frame a judgment of the wisdom of the whole.' 
But enough is known and appreciable to show the won- 
derful beauty of design, and to fix confidence in the 
benevolence and wisdom underlying those parts more 
occult and less understood. Thus we recognize all things 
to be for the best ; and, to the devout heart, are felt to 
be a thing of beauty and a joy forever. 

'* What is our loss is his gain; and how pleasant it is to 
feel that Knowles Shaw lives again, not only in the affec- 
tions of those who loved him so well, but in the benignant 
smiles of that Savior whom he served so faithfully. 

** There's no such thing as death, 
To those who live aright; 
'Tis but the racer casting off 
What most impedes his flight. 

<« 'Tis but one little act 

Life's drama must contain^ — 
One struggle greater than the rest, 
And then an end of pain. 

"There's no such thing as death; 
That which is thus miscalled 
Is life escaping from the chains 
That have so long enthralled, 

** 'Tis but the bud displaced 
As comes the perfect flower; 
'Tis faith exchanged to sight, 
And weariness to power." 



KNOWLES SHAW. 203 

Judge T. C. Lyon said: 

** In the collection of the antiquary there is to be found 
a medal struck by the city of Worms, in 1617. It repre- 
sents a lighted candle shining upon the open Word, while 
a serpent endeavors to extinguish it; a hand from the 
skies points, indicating that divine strength feeds the 
flame; an inscription underneath signifies, *0 Lord, let 
it shine on forever.' The Truth, the Light, the Spirit of 
Evil, the Divine Protection, the Prayer of the Faithful ! 
How fit an illustration this of the grand conflict between 
the Powers of Darkness and of Light, which now is, and 
has been, and will be until the millennial host trmmphant 
shall crown earth's rightful King. 

^^But, alas, for mortal weakness! As the warrior sees, 
in the hard contest, the crest of some champion, triple- 
armed, unexpectedly sink, faith trembles, and, beholding, 
the expostulatory cry ascends, ' Could it not shine on, O 
Lord; can the dust praise thee; can it declare thy truth ?' 

**Is it to be denied but that with such feelings not a 
few in this presence and community regard the sudden 
extinguishment of the light of life and usefulness in him 
whose work among us, as humanitarian and Christian — as 
lover of his race and of his God — we are now here met to 
commemorate. But, the reflection comes, the temple of 
highest human hopes can not be marred by human loss; 
complete to-day as yesterday, no pillar can fall, nor stone 
of the corner crumble. God's work, as it regards man, 
in its every aspect, is his own; and his hand wars not 
against itself. By him, of him, and through him, are not 
only are all things permitted, but all things are. Stupen- 
dous thought ! From eternity to eternity sweeps instant 
upon instant the eternal mind. It guides alike the rolling 



204 LIFE OF 

sun and the falling leaf; the shooting s'ar and the floating 
azure speck. One of the greatest of mere men, captive 
upon the sea-girt rock, as he turned his eyes from the 
mighty past of his fallen fortunes, upward, exclaimed, 
* Our days are reckoned?' So thought Napoleon in the 
days of rationalistic philosophy ; and a greater hath spoken 
of the * measure of his days,' and declared, ' my times are 
in thy hand.' No; the creative will did not commit his 
supreme work, with all its destinies, to blind, unmeaning 
chance, to be drifted black and blackening hell-ward. 
With a calm philosophy, therefore, let us believe the hand 
of Omniscience, and nothing short of it, marked the day 
of our friend's birth, and the day of his death, and the 
manner of that death as well. The logical idea of a 
perfect God demands the acknowledgment. To creature 
challenge, he replies: ' Be still, and know that I am God.' 
*^The divine purpose in this death maybe to us in- 
scrutable—the strong man falling in the midst of his 
strength— but could his voice now reach us from his seat 
of higher knowledge, doubtless it could and would unfold 
tremendous reason why. To you of his own flock, it 
might reveal a forbidden leaning upon an arm of flesh. 
He needeth not the strong; not since that time He sent 
the Galilean fishermen forth to make conquest of the 
world. Perhaps a glorying that was 'not all in the Lord;' 
perhaps in the hour of conscious weakness to strengthen 
faith ; and, perhaps, by such and so terrible a death, to 
make the deeper impress of his teaching and example. 
These things, it might be, you would learn; but, of a 
surety, desponding hearts, Christ's own words to his sor- 
rowing disciples would be his to you : * It is expedient 
that I go away.' 



KNOWLES SHAW. 20$ 

''To Others, who knew him better, I leave a general 
analysis of the character of the departed ; attempting only, 
in haste, to draw lessons that may be profitable to some 
from this sorrowful occasion. Nevertheless, I can not 
forbear to exalt, specially, two characteristics, plain to 
the passer-by, in the character of this, it must be con- 
fessed, extraordinary man: His devotion and his cour- 
age — the sword and buckler of the truth. 

''Knowles Shaw was, to some, a singular man, and 
singular in his ways. His idea of saving the souls and 
minds and bodies of his fellow-men, and augmenting the 
grand sum of temporal and eternal good during life's short 
span, differed from that of such, as duly once a week, 
with awful voice proclaim to immortals, heedlessly tread- 
ing the crumbling verge of abysmal woes, without end, 
the gospel of the Son of God, as the sure, quick, and 
only escape, then, with as due awaiting, passed with 
polished hand and tongue of proper courtesy, and that 
alone, until the appointed time returns ; aye, his practice 
differed. Consecrated, internally subjected, as it were, 
ardent, active, and continuing, the zeal of the Lord's 
house bore him from the pulpit to the street, to the place 
of business, to the work-shop, and, if needs be, to the 
gutter — hailing, persuading, urging, with affectionate solici- 
tude, to reformation and a better life. 'Now,' blazoned 
in living Hght upon his breast, was the talismanic word of 
his action. Moreover, ye bear him witness, the woe is 
not of his calling, either express or by cowardly implica- 
tion, light darkness, or darkness Hght. His bugle blast, 
and it was a blast, gave forth no uncertairf sound on any 
question affecting man's highest welfare. He called evil, 
evil; and good, good. With a flash of the spirit of the 



206 LIFE OF 

Tishbite of old, he scouted Baal and his worshipers ; and, 
with a boldness akin to that of the great worthies — from 
Peter and the Apostles to Luther, Calvin, John Knox, 
Bunyan, Wesley, and Whitfield — he hesitated not to de- 
clare, as he believed it, the whole counsel of God. Not 
hard is it to conceive, that had he lived in the 'days of the 
early church, prisons would have known him oft, and 
stonings, and scourgings, and the wild beasts of Ephesus, 
until through fire he had ascended to a martyr's crown. 

^^The priceless value of the soul he seemed to feel as 
well as preach. To the eye following in that ceaseless 
round of his good work here, there, everywhere, at home, 
abroad, by day, by night, every day, every night, instant 
in season and out of season - his abounding labors ex- 
pressed a conviction along with him, whose majestic 
thought proclaimed, that, were the sun to be clothed in 
sackcloth, and the moon to veil her face, all Nature could 
not utter a groan too deep to mark the calamity of a lost 
soul. 

* ^ The record of the good done by the lamented, here 
in his charge, is written on the hearts of how many before 
me; the measure of his philanthropic labors in temperance 
reform, what numbers in this community can gratefully at- 
test. There is need of no tongue of mine to tell. Before 
the man and his works were laid down the prejudices of 
years. 

*^And, now, when we consider all, need we be sur- 
prised that eleven thousand converts marked the seven- 
teen years of the ministry as evangelist of the Rev. 
Knowles Shaw .i- Eleven thousand ! what sheaves to gather! 
*A part have crossed the flood; a part are crossing now.' 
Here let your hearts revert with me to his own touching 
hymn, sung just now: 



KNOWLES SHAW. 20/ 

" * When my final farewell to the world I have said, 

And gladly lie down to my rest ; 
When softly the watchers shall say, ** He is dead," 

And fold my pale hands o'er my breast ; 
And when, with my glorified vision at last, 

The walls of ** that city " I see. 
Will any one then at the beautiful gate 

Be waiting and watching for me ? * 

^* ^Waiting and watching!' Does he ask, Shall any- 
one be waiting and watching for me ? My friends, when 
on this evening one week ago, by time of Earth, it was 
was announced in the. courts of Heaven that this soldier 
of the Cross was about to be called to his reward ; that 
the Lord^s joy was full; that the crown was ready; and 
when the bright-liveried escort past the portals, what, think 
you, was there waiting and watching for him? Where 
was that glorious company — the seals of his ministry ; the 
redeemed thousands gone before! Where the angelic 
host, with whom there had been joy eleven thousand 
times in heaven over those sinners repentant? Where the 
choirs seraphic? Yea, where the King himself? I trow 
there was waiting and watching at the beautiful gate! 
Nor watched nor waited long ! From the smoking wreck 
of instant death, in the land of pain and sorrow, the 
released spirit shot upward, borne on wings swifter than 
the swift-winged light, it passed within the door opened 
in Heaven. Strain, strain the spirit's eyes to catch a 
glimpse of that welcome. The glittering throng; the 
sainted loved ones; his own eager thousands of the re- 
deemed; the glad angels; the Master's plaudit; his Lord's 
joy; the everlasting crown; the stars that are to shine 
forever and ever ! Son, daughter, of this sorrowing vale, 



208 LIFE OF 

let him 'rest' inside those beautiful gates of which he 
sang in such uncommon strains ; within the walls of that 
city which, with glorified vision, he so longed to see ! 
' Well done, good and faithful servant, .enter thou into the 
glory of thy Lord.' 

*'We leave him there. And now to you who loved 
him who loved you, and yet loves you : would you honor 
the man as is given man most to honor the dead ? Then, 
in your minds and hearts, continue to hear the voice that 
is still. Remember his words ; walk in his ways. 

" In the market-place of a German town there stands a 
statue, placed there by pious hands, of beautiful signifi- 
cance. High up over the bustling throng, where the peo- 
ple are buying and selHng, and cumbered with the things 
of earth, there is a figure of an angel pointing heaven- 
ward, with a scroll in his hand, on which are these solemn 
words : 

** 'Things that are seen are temporal; 

But the things that are not seen are eternal.' 

''Could you adopt a truer, a more deserved reminder 
of the one that is gone, than, in sacred fancy, to behold 
him behind that vacant desk, where the memory will keep 
him long, pointing you ever, like the angel monitor of the 
busy mart, heavenward, heavenward ! while from his un- 
moving hand you read his faithful teaching as you read 
God's warning : 

** * Things that are seen are temporal ; 

But the things that are not seen are eternal.' " 

Mr. Ross Tabb said : 

" We have assembled to-night for the purpose of giving 
expression to our love for, and regret at, the loss of one 



KNOWLES SHAW. 20g 

who was with us, and of us, and now is not. Death has 
suddenly laid its hand upon our leader, and filled our 
order with mourning. A week ago this night a happy 
household expectant watched his coming; a few short 
hours past, and most unwelcome news — dead -crushes 
into the hearts of family and friends, and bows them down 
in very weakness. Never was a community more heavily 
shocked than by the announcement, ' Knowles Shaw is 
dead ! ' The short life he had spent with us had so inter- 
woven itself with ours, that his death was our personal loss. 
** But we bow in humble submission to this, to us, most 
terrible decree of our Father; sorrowing that he should 
call our beloved brother, in the very midst of his useful- 
ness, from our people. Why it is that, in God's economy, 
such a man — whose life had been one untiring effort for 
the enlightenment and elevation of his fellows — should be 
given to the sickle of death, is beyond the ken of mortals; 
but we can only accept the fact, and say : 

** * Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, 
^ But trust him for his grace — 

Behind a frowning Providence 
He hides a smiling face.' 

'^But, though our brother has gone from us, he yet 
speaks to his well-nigh broken-hearted people; bidding 
them to weep not, grieve not, falter not, but look forward 
to that beautiful, pure life promised in the hereafter to the 
faithful. The good that men do lives after them. Think 
you, my friends, the memory of such a man can perish ? 
Will not his spirit dwell among us until the last pulsation 
of the heart cease ? Will not the recollection of his kind- 
nesses, his willingness at all times to relieve suffering, his 
steady rebuke of wrong in every guise, be an incentive to 
14 



2IO LIFE OF 

this people to occupy a higher plane of virtue and mo- 
rality and Christian fellowship ? Prominent actors in life's 
history live not to, nor for, themselves; and whether for 
good or evil, generations to come are shaped by their 
lives; if this be true, surely the world is the better for 
Knowles Shaw's living. 

*^ Eighteen months ago, as a stranger, he visited us. 
He labored with the Christian Church for a few weeks ; 
and, by his energy, practical piety, and devotion to the 
cause, awakened an interest not alone in the church but 
the whole community. Crowded houses waited on his 
preaching. His church was awakened from its lethargy, 
and so impressed were they with his usefulness that he was 
asked to become their pastor. He cast his lot with us ; 
and, from that time forward, his life was one of unceasing 
activity in all that tended to the moral and spiritual ad- 
vancement of this people; and he lived the song he loved 
so well : * Scatter seeds of kindness for the reaping by 
and by.' 

'' He became interested in the question of Temperance; 
and, infusing his life into it^ soon had the community 
aroused. He delivered powerful addresses in advocacy of 
the cause ; and, as the result, over eighteen hundred per- 
sons, in this vicinity, joined the movement. He pos- 
sessed, in a remarkable degree, the vitalizing power that 
made alive all with whom he was associated; with his 
convictions, Hfe was too short to be wasted in fruitless 
efforts. He realized to a greater extent, than any one I' 
ever knew — 

** * A charge to keep I have, 
A God to glorify ; 
A never-dying soul to save, 
And fit it for the sky.* 



KNOWLES SHAW. 211 

'* And with this high purpose in view, he labored faith- 
fully to the end. His last work was a fitting crown to his 
life's labors. But he has gone from us. No more will we 
see him in this house, laboring with this church in the 
cause of Christianity, nor with this people in the work of 
Temperance. 

**We now have but the light of his example to beacon , 
us on, but that light is full-orbed; and in fancy we can see \ 
him clothed in the garments of immortality, keeping guard 
over this people he loved so well. We know his wishes 
and zealous work in the cause of Temperance, and his 
untimely death should be an incentive to earnest work 
upon our part. Living as he lived, death had no terrors. 
He fully realized that * 'twas not the whole of life to live, 
nor all of death to die ; ' and he left us the full exemplifi- 
cation of the beautiful lines : 

** * So live that the summons comes to join 
The innumerable caravan that moves 
To the mysterious realms, where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of death. 
Thou go not like the quarry slave at night, 
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him and lies down to pleasant dreams.'" 

Closing the exercises, the Rev. Dr. Lipscomb, of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, said: 

' * Mr, Presidency Ladies a?id Ge^itkfnen : 

^^I hesitate whether to attempt to draw the tribute I may 
offer, from the impressions which the life and character of 
Elder Knowles Shaw have made upon my intellect, or 
from those which personal intercourse and warm friend- 
ship have made upon my heart. 



212 LIFE OF 

'*It IS easy to estimate the character of most men. 
Strong, well-developed traits of intellect, or extraordinary 
physical endowments, command our admiration, while a 
luxuriant growth of the affections find an easy passage-way 
to our hearts. The one we can admire, but may not love ; 
the other we can love, but may not admire. 

'^Knowles Shaw could not be measured by either of 
these rules. He stands before us, in the combination of 
his nature and acquirements, one of the most peculiar 
men of the age. He might justly be called a human par. 
adox — a natural anomaly. 

*^ His physical appearance was almost outre in its unusual 
peculiarities. Six feet three inches high ; square and angu- 
lar at every joint; long-armed, and long-limbed, he was 
straight as an American aborigine, and as muscular and 
active as a trained athlete. His eye was sharp and clear, 
and looked right before him, and his whole bearing was 
one of fearless aggression and personal prowess. 

*'His huge hand seemed made to grasp a double-edged 
sword, as it cut down every opposing enemy. His huge 
foot was rightly placed when it crushed the necks of his 
foes. ^ Forward ' was written all over his physical being, 
and real strength backed every letter of the enstampment. 

''His mind partook largely of the peculiarities of his 
body. Self-educated, he had not learned to conform to 
the habits of the academy, nor was his brain illuminated 
by the lamp of the student. He learned as he lived, in 
the great world around him, and acquired knowledge as 
he needed it. He had no use for knowledge but to use it, 
and he used none but what was useful. His strong mind 
grasped truth vigorously, and he handled it with con- 
fidence and with power. Too direct for sophistry, too 



KNOWLES SHAW. 213 

honest for claptrap, he spoke to the point, and drove his 
arrows to the mark. Aggressive, fearless, powerful, he 
stood the impersonation of an invading conqueror, before 
whom opposition must yield and every resistance with- 
draw. 

**In this world of ours the logical pathway of such a 
character would be written in blood, and enemies would 
everywhere spring up to dispute his progress. Hard 
blows are ever received upon an uplifted arm, and human 
hearts are wooed, not conquered. But, strange to say, 
Knowles Shaw had no enemies. The women loved him, 
the children loved him, the men loved him. Hearts 
opened to him as roses to the sunshine. Tears were the 
oftenest jewels he received, and human affection almost 
hedged up his moving footstep. Thousands flocked to 
hear him speak, thousands received his enunciations with- 
out reluctance or dissent. His sermons and speeches were 
oracular to his hearers, and current coin in immense terri- 
tories of mind. Intellectual submission was co-extensive 
with the field of his labor, and his voice was the herald 
of his own success. 

*^ These things are the strange things that disturb our 
minds. Such success makes sad havoc with our estab- 
lished theories, and Knowles Shaw is still before us an 
enigma — a great human paradox. God is wonderfully 
wise; nature is w^onderfully kind. There exists a great 
law, called by philosophers the law of compensation, that 
_has a domain as wide as humanity, and opens into every 
department of man's nature. It fills vacuums with air, it 
puts flesh on bones, it lays smooth tracks over rough 
places, supplies deficiences with excess, and makes power 
work as the handmaid of weakness. God knew Knowles 



214 LIFE OF 

Shaw in physique and brain was a merciless tyrant, and 
he placed within him that which would moderate the 
strength of his arm and soften the violence of his spirit. 
He gave him a great human heart, that filled every crook 
and cranny of his organism, that ran out to the extreme 
end of his longest finger, and pulsated in every foot-fall 
of his huge limbs. It saturated his very being with the 
love of his fellows, opened all his vision toward the woes 
and wants of men, and sent him an evangelist proclaim- 
ing * good news ' to the lost millions of earth — a herald of 
salvation and a soldier of the cross. It gave a melody to 
his voice that sent up to heaven magic wreaths of song, or 
wrapped his listening hearers in benedictions of joy. His 
tongue was tuned like an angeFs harp, and its softest, 
sweetest notes were messages of consolation and words of 
hope to the weary and forlorn. 

'^ Did you ever hear him sing? Oh 1 the wonder that 
such a man was so mystically endowed. It was not the 
voice of a woman, nor yet of an angel ; it was the voice 
of a MAN that had in it a ring half heaven, half earth — 
strong but sweet, magical but true. It could sing of Jesus 
and of sin ; it could sing away the darkness and then rise 
on the strongest pinions of light ; it could ^ shiver ' in the 
cold despair of the broken heart, ^ drift away' into the 
loneliness of lost affection, and come back again bright as 
the face of a reformed drunkard's wife, and warm as the 
love of the happy children that clustered at her knee. 
God sent him out a singing evangelist, a hero with his 
harp, a warrior whose eyes sparkled with tears, and whose 
blows were for the healing of the nations. 

''His great heart destroyed his selfishness. He never 
worked for himself, he never fought for himself. He 



KNOWLES SHAW. 21$ 

wanted no pelf in his pocket, nor bays on his brow. He 
worked and labored and fought for his Master and his 
brother. If he was strong, he used his power to lift up 
his fallen fellow-man. He struck for us, not against us. 
If he was brave, he used his courage to destroy our 
enemies, not us ; and ten thousand dark fortresses of hell 
have felt his prowess as he rescued therefrom the poor 
fallen sin-stricken sons of Adam. His trophies are in this 
house, but he baptized them in his Master's name. 
Rescued ones are all around us, but we pay no ransom 
but love, and his highest joy was to point us to still higher 
heights, and help us on to where all is peace and safety 
forevermore. 

^*The people of Columbus needed Knowles Shaw. I 
needed him. God sent him ; and may your life and my 
life, stamped in the image of the Jesus he preached and 
the temperance he proclaimed, be to him the tribute we 
pay and the monument we rear." 

None but men who felt what they said could give 
utterance to such sentiments as the above ; and they 
serve to show how deeply Brother Shaw had im- 
pressed a community into which he had come less 
than two years before a stranger. While all the 
addresses were overflowing with true and deep feel- 
ing, I am sure that the reader will agree with me in 
regard to the last, that as a true, tender, and affec- 
tionate tribute to departed worth, it has seldom been 
equaled. 



2l6 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XVIIL 



A Sad Scene— Strange Coincidence — Lines by G.W, Archer — 
Tribute of Affection — Memorial Service at Jackson^ Missis- 
sippi — In Memoriam, 

Sorrow for the sad fate of this faithful Christian 
soldier was mingled with deep sympathy for his 
stricken family. These kindred feelings found ex- 
pression in a variety of ways, of which we give a few 
examples. 

The following we take from the Columbus, Mis- 
sissippi, papers : 

«'REV. KNOV^LES SHAV^. 

**The melancholy fate of this great and good man has 
saddened our entire community. Singular that he and 
his friend and fellow-laborer, Bliss, should both have been 
the victims of a railroad disaster. The last sermon he 
preached before leaving us for Texas had much with 
regard to what he wanted his people to do in case he 
never returned to them. Without expressing any premo- 
nition of his fate, he counseled them as though he was 
stepping into eternity. An army of good deeds are troop- 



KNOWLES SHAW. 2i;^ 

ing up to heaven to bear testimony to his zeal, his fidelity, 
and exemplary Christianity. The world, and not Knowles 
Shaw, is the loser by this railroad disaster." 

•T^ ^ 5j> 5ji »f^ 5|C 

**One of the saddest scenes we ever witnessed was at 
the residence of the late Elder Knowles Shaw on Sunday 
night. By request of the family, the ministration of the 
Lord's Supper was held there instead of at the church. •> 
Dr. Curtis delivered a discourse upon the philosophy of 
death, with a beautiful tribute to the honored dead. Dr. 
Lipscomb offered up a pathetic prayer for the consolation 
of the living. There were other sympathizing friends 
from the various churches, and it was a commingling of 
Christian faith and sorrow we never want to see again. 

* ' The bereft household, consisting of father-in-law, wife, 
daughter and son, together with Miss Leonora Norris, left 
on the train for Rushville, Indiana, the next morning — 
' sorrowing most of all that they should see his face no 
more.' " 

The following incident is noteworthy : 

^ * It is a coincidence not a little singular, that on the 
afternoon of the day of his death, a drunken fellow in 
Columbus, Mississippi, mounted a box in a saloon and 
announced that he would ' preach Knowles Shaw's 
funeral.' He then proceeded to abuse him for his war 
upon the whisky traffic, and while speaking was attacked 
with an epileptic fit, from which he did not recover for 
hours. In the meantime the dispatch from Dallas was 
received in Columbus, announcing the fatal accident. It 
had not been known before, and the circumstance created 
no little excitement." 



2l8 LIFE OF 

The lines which follow are by G. W. Archer, of 
Baldwyn, Mississippi : 

** Soldier, unclasp thy trusty sword and lay thy shield aside; 
For the Master thou hast nobly fought and for the Master died. 
Earnest zeal and constant toil thy unfaltering faith attest ; 
And He who heard thy earnest wish has called thee home to rest. 

**Thy work was grand indeed ! and great indeed thy loss! 
For now no more thy clarion voice shall 'rally to the cross.' 
Thy powers of speech and song a tender chord could thrill, 
But now, alas ! the song is hushed, the powerful voice is still ! 

** Thousands have felt thy power and heard thy warning call 
Who live to-day to bless thy name and mourn thy sudden fall. 
Hundreds have listened to thy strains, and still with wonder heard, 
Who bowed their heads in humble trust obedient to the Word. 

"Soldier, go sing the victor's song, receive the conqueror's crown, 

For thou wast faithful to thy trust and at thy post was found. 

Go sing that * wondrous new made song,' where saints and angels 

dwell, 
And those that thou hast turned from sin will soon its chorus swell." 

No notice better deserves to be called a ** tribute 
of affection '' than this: 

*'One of the most useful and honored men that ever 
blessed this or any other community with his presence and 
example has been suddenly, and, without warning, hurled 
into eternity. Elder Knowles Shaw, the * Singing Evan- 
gelist,' and pastor of the Christian Church at this place, 
was killed by a railroad accident near Dallas, Texas, on 
the 7th instant, while on his return home from a preach- 
ing tour of five or six weeks to that city. 

**0f course we have neither the capacity, the facts in 
hand, nor yet the kear^ to do any thing even approaching 



KNOWLES SHAW. 2I9 

the shadow of justice to the Hfe, labors, or talents, of such 
a man as Knowles Shaw. Looking to the standard jour- 
nals of his church to perform that important task, all we 
can do here is to scatter a few flowers of love upon his 
grave, and mingle our tears with those of the thousands 
over the land who have listened to his marvelous elo- 
quence and felt the magnetism of his godly example. 

**Mr. Shaw was born, as we have understood, in the 
State of Indiana, and when killed had attained about his 
forty-fifth year. Born of poor parents, and deprived early 
in life of his father, for many years his existence was one 
long struggle with ill-fortune ; but by indomitable pluck, 
integrity, and native genius, he conquered an education, 
helped his widowed mother, and became one of the 
brightest lights in the pulpit of the * Church of the Dis- 
ciples.' As he attained to years of early manhood he 
entered somewhat into the dissipations of youth, but be- 
coming convinced of the value of a Christian's life, he 
put aside his violin and gave up the ball-room, and hence- 
forth his career became one of glorious results in the 
spread of the gospel. For eighteen or twenty years his 
fame has been all over the North, among the people of his 
faith, as an evangehst of unequaled powers, and as a 
* sweet singer in Israel,' that ranked him with the gentle 
and pious P. P. Bliss, of equally mournful memory. It 
was Mr. Shaw's habit to keep a diary of his evangelical 
labors. At one time during the year 1877, he showed the 
writer the last entry of the persons baptized by his own 
hands in the seventeen years of his ministry. They footed 
up the marvelous number of over eleven thousand! To a 
minister of ordinary physical powers, zeal, or stationary 
life, the above figures would seem incredible — nay, they 



220 LIFE OF 

would be impossible —but it must be remembered that 
Elder Shaw was peculiarly an evangelist. His musical 
gifts, both vocal and instrumental, were wonderful; his 
energy and zeal in the cause of truth were amazing, and 
his powers of physical endurance such as are not pos- 
sessed by one man in ten thousand. These, added to the 
spotless purity of his private life, and his dauntless pres- 
entation of the truth everywhere and on all occasions, 
make it easy enough to understand how one man could 
accomplish such a work in such a comparatively brief 
period of time. 

* ' It seems that Rushville, Indiana, was most entitled to 
be called his old homestead, and thither his mourning 
family have followed the remains to their final resting- 
place. Before coming to Columbus, upon the call of this 
congregation, he preached two years in the city of Chi- 
cago, while the grand scope of his labors extend from 
Pennsylvania, in the East, to Kansas in the West. In 
the field of spiritual song he had published five books, and 
had nearly ready for the press when he died a volume of 
sermons. 

^^But what are all these, and many other outside facts, 
in comparison with the knowledge of Brother Shaw that 
all of us here in Columbus have of him, and keep in such 
precious remembrance ! About a year and a half ago he 
came to this city and began a series of discourses in the 
church. It was at the time of the ^big snow.' Since 
then (and we know we shall not be accused of denom- 
inational partiality in the statement) he has retained a 
hold upon the intellectual, the religious, and the social 
attention of the community, that has never found a par- 
allel in her midst. Even those who differed from him 



KNOWLES SHAW. 221 

most upon points of doctrine never for a moment doubted 
the resistless sincerity of his convictions, while how like 
moral cowards do we all feel and seem in contrast with 
that heroic courage that never hesitated to tell the truth 
upon any subject, and upon all occasions ! 

*'But the great, the starry beauty of his character, was 
its noble consistency. Just what he appeared in the pul- 
pit and on the streets, he was indeed at home, or in the 
social circle — always impetuous, busy, kind, charitable, 
and affectionate. If he was oftentimes harsh in his form 
of expression, no man was more ready to make amends ; 
and while he never would compromise what he felt to be 
the truth, he always said he never intended to wound. 
Only toward the Devil and his works could it be said he 
bore ill-will. His private life abounded with words and 
deeds of charity. It may literally be said that ' he went 
about doing good,' and this to a degree explains the fact 
that he was ever a poor man in this world's goods. 

*^ Perhaps nothing but his terrible death would have 
recalled the fact that of late months Brother Shaw has 
more than once expressed, in his own touching language, 
*a longing for rest.' He had overtaxed his powers and 
knew it, and having accomplished great good, he perhaps 
felt that he deserved temporary relief from his labors. In 
his farewell sermon, before going upon his last trip, he 
seemed to have a presentiment of his fate — at least he 
alluded to the fact that we- might never see each other 
again, and he wanted us to pray for him, and if we were 
not permitted to meet again on earth, we could all see 
each other in heaven. Nothing the writer ever heard 
could exceed the pathos and tenderness of that sermon ; 
and so heart-aching is the memory of it now that, coupled 



222 LIFE OF 

with a mournful realization, almost makes us wish we had 
never heard it. If a parting under special divine guidance 
could ever suggest a scene of to-day, surely we commit 
(we know we intend) no sacrilege in likening it to that of 
Paul and his sorrowing disciples onthe eve of the apostle's 
final departure to Jerusalem. 

*^And now it seems strange that we who knew and 
loved him so well shall never be permitted to look upon 
his face again. That the giant form, the hearty salute, 
the bright, beaming eye, the awkward grace, the warm 
grasp of hand, the glorious voice, the melting tongue (the 
tongue so full of heart and the Savior's love one almost 
forgot the power of logic that upheld it), are all lost and 
hushed in the thrall of death. Only sweet and tender 
memories — only an example jeweled with countless deeds 
of Christian faith and practice — remain to us, pointing to 
a higher sphere, where all partings are unknown, where 
no tears are shed, ^ where the wicked cease from troubling, 
and the weary are at rest!' May God help us all, for 
Christ's sake. J. A. S. 

*^ Columbus, Mississippi, y^;^<? lo, 1878." 

The impression made in scores of public places 
may be learned from the next extract, taken from 
the Christian Standard: 

'* MEMORIAL SERVICE. 

**A TRIBUTE FROM THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, THE TEMPERANCE 
PEOPLE, AND THE COMMUNITY OF JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, TO 
THE MEMORY OF ELDER KNOWLES SHAW. 

*' Sunday evening, August 4, 1878, a memorial service 
was held in the Christian Chapel, in this city, commem- 



KNOWLES SHAW. 223 

orative of the life and services of the late Elder Knowles 
Shaw. 

^^The meeting was opened in due form, and its object 
announced by the pastor, when Dr. S. R. Jones was called 
to the chair, and J. C. Johnston appointed secretary. 

'*Col. F. T. Cooper then offered the following resolu- 
tions, which, after discussion, in which F. T. Cooper, J. 
W. Harris, H. Musgrove, and J. L. Power, took part, 
were unanimously adopted : 

*' PREAMBLE. 

''On the 7th of June, 1878, Elder Knowles Shaw was 
killed in a railroad wreck in Texas, between Dallas and 
McKinney, after having just concluded a successful series 
of Christian meetings at the former place. A few moments 
previous to this disaster he was conversing with a Meth- 
odist preacher, and the last words which fell from his lips 
upon mortal ears were, ' Oh ! it is a grand thing to rally 
the people to the Cross of Christ !' With these inspiring 
words ringing upon the air, the crash came which sud- 
denly and tragically transferred him to another sphere. 
They are words of great import. They speak a sentiment 
of heavenly sublimity, and give a just clew to the char- 
acter of the man. Perhaps it was a fitting finale to a life 
of purity and devotion, of continued success, and without 
a reproach, that he should quickly be brought face to face 
with his Master with these talismanic words fresh upon 
his mouth. 

''Only a few short weeks ago Elder Shaw labored in 
this church for the cause of Christ, temperance, and 
humanity. His zeal, his eloquence, his magnetism, have 
left their impress upon the hearts of our people of all 
classes. We remember him as the earnest and faithful 



224 I-IFE OF 

Christian evangelist, as the fearless champion of the truth, 
as the untiring friend and laborer in the promotion of 
temperance, as the devout and consecrated man of God, 
whose soul went out in sweet charity and benevolence to 
the whole human race, and whose indomitable will never 
flagged in good works. His untimely death has spread a 
gloom over us, and we, as temperance people, as members 
of his church, as friends of the gospel, as an entire com- 
munity, desire to testify our appreciation of his worth, our 
keen sense of bereavement at his death, and to give formal 
expression to the sorrow that fills our hearts. Therefore, 
we declare : 

*' RESOLUTIONS. 

*^i. That although in the death of Elder Shaw, his 
church, the temperance people, and the Christian world, 
have felt the giving way of one of their stanchest pillars 
of strength, and we have lost a friend whom we had 
learned to love and honor, yet we will not murmur at the 
rulings of Providence. We recognize his death as a great 
loss to us and the holy cause he so unwaveringly plead, 
but at the same time we recognize it as a great gain to 
him. Hence we invoke the consolation of that sublime 
Christian submission found in the language of our Re- 
deemer, * Father, thy will be done !' 

^*2. That we cordially approve of and will cheerfully 
co-operate with the Knowles Shaw Monument Association 
of Rushville, Indiana, and consider it a privilege to con- 
tribute our mite to the erection of a suitable monument to 
the dead evangelist, and for the support of his surviving 
family. 

**3. That we tenderly express our condolence to the 
grief-stricken widow and orphans of our deceased brother, 



KNOWLES SHAW. 225 

and while we would not insult their agony by comparing 
our feelings and sufferings with theirs, yet we hope to 
temper the heavy calamity to them as much as we can by 
the assurance of a heartfelt and sorrowful sympathy. 

*^S. R. Jones, Chamna?t. 
''J. C. Johnston, Secretary. ^^ 

**MR. cooper's speech. 



it 



Mr. President: — In presenting these resolutions for the 
action of this memorial meeting, I desire to add a word or 
two of comment. To many persons it may appear strange 
that I should appear in this role, and evince so much gen- 
uine feeling toward the memory of a man with whom I 
was scarcely acquainted personally. I never saw him 
until he held his meetings here in this chapel a few months 
ago. I am not a member of his church— alas! perhaps I 
am not fit to be a member of any church — but I attended 
several of his meetings here, and confess that I was im- 
pressed by him as I have been impressed by few men, 
with a profound respect and honor for the man. I saw in 
all his movements, heard in all his utterances, read in all 
his gestures, and realized in all his songs, the evidences of 
a sublime devotion, and a singleness of purpose, looking 
to the salvation of souls and the amelioration of his fellow- 
men. His face was aglow with enthusiasm. There was 
fire in his eye, resolution in his bearing, earnestness in his 
speech, and eloquence in his song. ^Oh, brethren,' he 
would often exclaim. Met us sing eloquently.^ And he did 
sing eloquently. It was here in this house, and under his 
voice, that I first fully realized the power and the true 
eloquence of song. 

**Is it strange that such a man should inspire homage 
IS 



226 LIFE OF 

in my bosom? The interest which he then awakened 
prompted me to watch his movements since, and to read 
snatches of his history in the various newspapers of the 
country. I learn from these sources of information, that 
although Elder Shaw was comparatively a young man, and 
suddenly translated from earth to heaven in the meridian 
of his life and at the zenith of his fame, yet he has bap- 
tized with his own hands about twelve thousand persons. 

' * What A work is this ? How shall we measure its great- 
ness ? A ^I'and moral army rallied to the cross ! 

**I would not exaggerate the magnificent results of thk 
active life, but here are twelve thousand personal witnesses 
to magnify and praise them — twelve thousand gladdened 
souls who have drank the waters of life administered by 
his individual hands. And when we come to consider the 
vast crowds that have flocked to his revivals, and after- 
ward sought comfort in other churches, and t4ie solemn 
rite of baptism from other hands, it is impossible to tell — 
it is a thing known only to infinite intelligence — how many 
thousands of souls have been quickened under the magic 
of his ministration ! 

' ^ I learn also, from these same sources, that this man, 
Elder Shaw, began his evangelical work early in life, and 
that for the last fifteen or twenty years he has been Agoing 
about doing good,' with no thought of self, absorbed, in- 
tensely absorbed in his mission, apparently as free from 
the allurements of the flesh and the sordidness of avarice 
as the apostles of old. At last he fell, translated in a 
twinkling, in the full vigor of health, manhood, and intel- 
lect, at the prime of life, in the midst of his expanding 
and ripening field of usefulness, without a moment's warn- 
ing, he was tragically cut off— but, like all true soldiers 



KNOWLES SHAW. 22/ 

desire to fall, if fall they must, he fell with his full armor 
on — ' he fell at his post' 

^ ' He has left a record of wonderful activity, and without 
a flaw. His success has beea. marvelous, and there is no 
taint upon it to mar its sweetness. The man does not live 
who can rise up now and point to a single blot upon his 
escutcheon. Surely such a character— so nearly perfect, 
so true, so devoted, so free from all the corroding cankers 
of humanity — deserves homage. In commemorating his 
virtues, we exalt our own natures. In honoring him, we 
honor ourselves." 

We close this chapter with the following verses 
by Miss Mollie McGee, of Columbus, Mississippi, 
which were read at the memorial service, of which 
we have already given an account : 

*aN MEMORIAM. 

^^We are journeying in the shade, 
He where flowers never fade. 
We are in the gloom of night, 
He where pinions flash with light. 
We are weary, tempest tossed, 
He where rest is never lost. 
We ^neath Heaven's mighty dome, 
He within that sacred home. 

"We with hearts with grief now riven. 
He with brow now crowned in Heaven, 
We with songs that soonest tire. 
He with glad angelic choir. 
We/r(?;;z lost ones stand apart, 
He with lost ones heart to heart. 
We yet to cross Death's icy river, 
He bv Life's Fount to live forever. 



228 KNOWLES SHAW. 

**We with earth's pilgrims in the dust^ 
He with seraphim and the just. 
We to learn still more of sorrow, 
He to dread no coming morrow. 
We with steps that go astray, 
He safe beyond life's rugged way. 
We on earth with blinded eyes. 
He lives with God in Paradise P* 



LIFE OF 229 



CHAPTER XIX. 



Poem — What the ^^Christian^^ and ^^Standard^^ Said — ChaU 
len^s Last Song — Farewell. 

The loving and tender words found in the pre- 
ceding chapters seem doubly so when it is taken 
into account that some of the speakers and writers 
were of different religious denominations, but who, 
by intercourse with Brother Shaw, had learned to 
know and love him. His own brethren, all over the 
land, paid fitting tributes to his memory. Of these 
we can only give a few. With the sad news of his 
death there came a request that the author should 
embody his own sentiments and those of others in 
verse. This was done briefly as follows : 

IN MEMORY OF KNOWLES SHAW. 

Gone in his prime — too soon, alas ! too soon 
For us the sudden, startling summons came, 

Which called our brother from our sight away, 
Swift as the prophet in his car of flame* 

A precious gift of God he was to us ; 

To have him with us long we all were fain ; 
So dear he made himself to all our hearts, 

We feel it hard to give him back again. 



230 LIFE OF 

Sweet as the songs of Judah*s shepherd king 

To Israel, his songs to us shall be ; 
Sweeter, now that the singer sweet has gone, 

And deeper graven on our memory. 

A reaper in God's harvest, many sheaves 
By his strong hand were safely gathered in; 

And his shall be the bright reward of those 
Who to God's service precious souls shall win. 

A red cross knight, without reproach and fear, 

Fresh from a battle nobly fought and won; 4 

Seeking another field he bravely fell, 
Just as he wished, with all his armor on. 

His soul is now with Christ in paradise; 

Why, then, should we, who loved him so, be sad, 
When his freed spirit from its happy home 

Looks down in love upon us, and is glad ? 

All the papers of the brotherhood of which Brother 
Shaw was a member, made fitting mention of his life 
and labors. We have only room for the two follow- 
ing — the first from the Christian: 

'* BROTHER SHAW IS DEAD. 

*^We know this announcement will carry sorrow to 
thousands of hearts as it has already to our own. The 
city papers of last Saturday contained a dispatch from 
Galveston, Texas, announcing a railroad accident one 
mile south of McKinney, on the Texas Central, in which 
thirteen persons were dangerously wounded and Brother 
Shaw killed. The accident was caused by a broken rail 
and rotten ties. The coach in which Brother Shaw was 
riding was precipitated down an embankment, forty feet, 
turning over three times, and stopping in two feet depth 



KNOWLES SHAW. 23 1 

of water. Brother Shaw was under the car, and had to be 
cut out. A hole had been cut in his head, and he was 
dead when rescued from the car. To-day (Monday) we 
are in receipt of the following card, which not only con- 
firms the sad news of Brother Shaw's death, but gives 
Brother Baxter's name as one of the wounded : 

'' 'McKiNNEY, Texas, /une 7, 1878. 
^^^ Editors Christian: — Our beloved Brother Knowles 
Shaw is dead. He was killed in a railroad accident near 
this place this morning. He was coming to hold us a 
meeting. Had just closed a grand meeting at Dallas, 
with one hundred and twelve additions. Brother Baxter 
is badly hurt, but, we hope, not dangerously. 

'^ 'Your sister, Ella M. Price.' 

''Thus the sweet singer, the tender and tearful pleader 
with sinners, the great evangelist, the untiring and unceas- 
ing worker for Christ, has been cut off suddenly, in the 
prime of his life and in the midst of his usefulness. Over 
eleven thousand souls have been won to Christ by the 
gospel as sung and preached by him. Few men among 
us, if any, have so large a circle of personal acquaintances 
as Brother Shaw had. He has held meetings in many 
States of the Union, and in most of our principal cities. 
Thousands have thus learned to love him for his works' 
sake, and will mourn to learn of his violent death. Our 
own heart is too sad to say much now. At another time 
we hope to give our readers a suitable notice of the life 
and labors of this remarkable man of God. 

"Brother Shaw could not be regarded as a man of extra- 
ordinary intellectual grasp, or great logical power. He 
could make a plain argument, and was not without the 



\ 



232 LIFE OF 

power of correct reasoning; but his greatness did not 
consist in these things. His heart-power, and exhaustless 
enthusiasm, that seemed to flow like a perennial fountain ; 
his accurate knowledge of, and deep sympathy with, hu- 
manity in its humblest conditions — these were his resources 
of power. The vilest sinner that ever came tremblingly 
forward to confess Christ, under his appeals, was met with 
the same glad welcome that he extended to those in the 
highest social position. To save sinners was, with him, a 
controlling passion. For this he lived and labored, and 
in pursuance of this grand work he died. 

* ' Few men have such power to reach the hearts of 
people as that possessed by our lamented evangelist. We 
have often seen whole congregations in tears, including 
hardened sinners, as he narrated, in his own inimitable 
way, some touching incident, usually connected with his 
own experience in ^he labor of the gospel. We have never 
heard a man so gifted in the power of exhorting his breth- 
ren and sisters to be faithful in their Christian duties. His 
day-talks to the members exceeded anything we have ever 
heard from any other man, taking them through a whole 
meeting. 

' ' We have often longed for his exhaustless flow of enthu- 
siasm and hopefulness. Nothing damped his ardor. He 
began a meeting with the expectation that it was to be a 
glorious revival, and worked under the stimulus of that 
confident hope, without flagging in his zeal or good cheer. 
Gloomy weather, small audiences, and other kindred cir- 
cumstances that cool the ardor of most men, had no such 
effect on him. He talkefl as well to a dozen hearers that 
had come out through a storm to hear him as to a crowded 
house. There were the same beaming face, tuneful voice 



KNOWLES SHAW. 233 

and teartui eyes, pleading with sinners to be reconciled to 
God, and brethren to cling closer to Christ. 

** There are those who could not approve all his methods 
of work, and certainly some of them, if used by anybody 
else, would seem entirely out of place; but he was him- 
self, and had his own way of working, and God blessed 
his work ; and, while we may criticise his methods, few of 
us can be as efficient as he was in winning souls to Christ. 

* ' It is especially comforting to know, in this sad hour, 
that while his eccentricities and idiosyncrasies have some- 
times been criticised, his fair fame is unstained by even 
the breath of suspicion. His character as a Christian, in 
all his labors as a preacher of the gospel and as the author 
of several popular musical works, is, so far as we know, 
without reproach. 

**May God bless his bereaved family, whose hearts are 
crushed by this sad calamity, and the thousands of his 
converts who will be grieved by the news of his death. 
He has died like a soldier, on the field of duty, with his 
armor on. His spirit, like that of the lamented Bliss, 
took its departure from earth amid the terrible crash of a 
railroad disaster; thus emphasizing the lesson he has so 
often taught about the importance of being always ready. 
When we shall all of us, ' Gather round the great white 
throne,' among the voices of the innumerable choir that 
shall ^Sing God's praise through endless days,' we shall 
doubtless hear the swelling tones of our beloved evan- 
gelist, ascribing praise and honor and dominion to that 
Savior whom he loved so well and served so faithfully. 

'* We pray for Brother Baxter's speedy recovery, lest we 
have sorrow upon sorrow. 

**We are indeed grateful to God that Brother Baxter 



234 LIFE OF 

was spared to his family and to the Church of God. And 
we are grateful, that, since Brother Shaw has been taken 
from us, he leaves so bright an example of earnest and 
heroic devotion to the Master. Fitting words are these 
with which to close such a life : ^Oh ! it is a grand thing 
to rally people to the Cross of Christ!' May his brethren 
in the ministry catch the inspiration of these, his last 
words, and lift higher the banner of the cross, so that in 
his death, as well as in his life, he shall have given a 
renewed impetus to the cause he loved so well." 

The Chnstian Standardy after giving the sad intel- 
ligence of his death, says # 

^^It thus appears that suddenly, without a moment's 
warning, this earnest, ever-busy servant of God was called 
home. In death, as in life, there was dispatch. We judge 
that, if he had been consulted about the time and manner 
of his death, he would have said: 'Let it be when the 
Lord will, and let it be without long waiting, or lingering 
disease.' As one of our sweetest sacred poets has ex- 
pressed it — 

** * O that without a lingering groan 
I may the welcome call receive ; 
My body with my charge lay down, 
And cease at once to work and live.* 

''We made the acquaintance of Brother Shaw some 
eighteen years ago, when we accompanied Alexander 
Campbell on a preaching tour through Indiana. It was 
at Rushville. He was just beginning to feel his strength 
as a preacher. He was clear-headed, but with a tinge of 
enthusiasm in his work, and a ceaseless restlessness of 
manner, which foreshadowed the untiring energy with 



KNOWLES SHAW. 235 

which he prosecuted his labors until his dying moment. 
In all seasons, in all places, under all circumstances, he 
was the same hopeful, earnest, indefatigable worker, 
whether in the pulpit or out of it. With ability to preach 
the gospel clearly, pointedly, fearlessly, he mingled some 
eccentricities of style, manner and action, which excited 
curiosity, and sometimes subjected him to sharp criticism. 
But his manner was his own, and befitted him alone. Of 
his purity of life and singleness of purpose none that 
knew him entertained a doubt. His dear love of music, 
and his genius for poetical and musical composition, he 
made tributary to his one great passion — the salvation of 
souls. His success as a preacher was greater than that of 
most preachers — nor was he lacking in the qualities essen- 
tial to a teacher. For incisive, pungent, fearless appli- 
cation of scripture doctrine he had few equals. His sudden 
departure, in the prime of life, at a time when he was 
achieving great success, can not but be mourned by myr- 
iads as a great loss to the church and to humanity. To 
his family, this sudden bereavement will be a crushing 
calamity. May the God of all consolation comfort their 
hearts in this season of bitter anguish. Let the living be 
animated and strengthened to greater zeal and devotion 
by the bright example of this remarkable man, and let us 
all be ready for the summons from the Master, for in such 
an hour as we think not, the Son of Man cometh.'' 

As a fitting close of these notices, we can think 
of nothing better than the following spirited song, 
which was written by the venerable Elder James 
Challen, of precious memory, in his seventy-seventh 
year. It was the last production of his pen : 



230 LIFE OF 



"KNOWLES SHAW— THE DEAD EVANGELIST. 

"His last words before he was killed on a wrecked train of a railroad in 
Texas, June 7th, 1878, were, *'Tis a grand thing to rally the people to the 
Cross of Christ/ 

** 'T was the battle-cry of one who was coming from the field, 
Who in courage never faltered, and to fear would never yield. 
With his armor bright and perfect, and with ready sword in hand, 
As he bore the cross of Jesus in triumph through the land. 

Chorus, 
** * 'Tis a grand thing to rally the people to the cross,' 
And for the name of Jesus to count all things but loss : 
To lift on high his banner, who died our souls to save, 
And faithful in his service, to be earnest, strong and brave. 

Rally, rally, rally to the cross. 
To the cross of Him who died a ruined world to save. 

" In the vigor of his youth, and with talents rich and rare, 
With a faith that never faltered, and a soul to do and dare, 
He gave his life to Jesus — Him who died for me and you — 
And was faithful to his Leader, and to his conscience true. 
Chorus, 

** He preached the cross- of Jesus to sinners night and day, 
And drew them to the Savior, the true and living way ; 
At home, in large assemblies, he taught both young and old, 
And urged his fellow soldiers the ancient Fort to hold. 
Chorus, 

**He sung the songs of Zion, with heart and lips afire; 

With consecrated soul and voice he struck the trembling lyre; 

With words of invitation, he melted, conquered, won ; 

Till his work of faith was finished, and his earthly race was run*" 

Chorus, 

Numerous as are the extracts given, they form 
only a small part of what was said and written con- 



KNOWLES SHAW. 237 

cerning him. From these, however, we can not fail 
to gather the impression that was made in every 
community where he was known, by his Hfe and 
labors. His whole life was one of great activity. 
He would not have died unknown, even if he had 
directed his energies into some other channel. 

His religious life was one of entire consecration ; 
he gave himself, with all his powers, to the Master's 
service. He entered upon that life with a noble pur- 
pose, pursued it with untiring effort, was eminently 
successful in winning souls — his converts numbering 
eleven thousand four hundred — nearly six hundred 
for every year of his ministry — and fitly ended his 
earnest, useful career, with the memorable words, 
which for years to come shall arouse a kindred spirit 
in others, *'0h! it is a grand thing to rally the 
people to the Cross of Christ." Then, till the dawn- 
ing of the endless brighter day, 

' Farewell, dear brother, while our falling tears 
But feebly tell how much we mourn thy loss, 
May thy example lead us all, like thee, 
To rally sinners to the Savior's cross. 



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